


She Who Sleeps With Sirens

by TectonicPlatez



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, F/M, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-04-03 08:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4093492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TectonicPlatez/pseuds/TectonicPlatez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annabeth was a lonely kid. That all changed during Luke's luxurious yacht party, where she found a new friend: Perseus, a merman. Annabeth wonders if she'll ever see him again, but Perseus soon reappears at her back door- naked, and fully human. With the help of her classmate, Grover, Annabeth must find how to turn Percy back into a merman before the entire town is destroyed by Poseidon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Discovery

"No, no, _no_. You're doing it all wrong. Bait the hook like _this_."

Annabeth glared at the blonde teen before her, biting her tongue at the way he snatched the fishing rod from her. He was so…controlling.

He was _always_ like this.

"It's fine. Girls can't fish all that well anyways," he said casually, baiting the hook for her. Though his voice seemed calm enough, he impaled the worm on the hook rather forcefully, some of the small creature's fluids spurting into the air.

Annabeth made a disgusted face at both the worm, and her friend. She could hardly see a difference between the two anymore.

That was the thing about Luke. He would be charming and suave, but subtly insult and snub a person at the same time. Some people never even realized Luke had insulted them, too caught up with his good looks.

Annabeth, on the other hand, was too smart for his tricks. He had practiced his subtle rudeness on her countless times.

She was tired of it.

"Girls can fish just as well as any guy, and you know that. I've just never done this before."

Luke scoffed, surprised at her angry tone with him. Seriously? He quickly glanced at the crowd of kids around them, some of them who were observing the scene closely. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, annoyed by his female friend.

She rarely called him out like this, especially in front of others. He had to fix this. Annabeth was cramping his style. _Again_.

"Are you really going to make me look like the bad guy? This is _my_ party on _my_ yacht. I invited you out the goodness of my heart."

Annabeth scowled. Was he being serious right now? He invited her out of 'goodness of his heart'? She was his childhood friend! Inviting her wasn't some sort of act of charity. It was expected.

But of course, Luke's newest friends backed him up as usual.

"Chill out, blondie," Ethan Nakamura teased, fingering the rim of his red cup.

"Yeah, it's a party. Quit trying to be 'correct' all the time and have fun for once in your life, Annabeth," Octavian joked, high-fiving Ethan.

When the other kids began to giggle along and Luke turned away from her, Annabeth frowned. The other kids were laughing because they believed the same thing. Annabeth Chase was an insufferable know-it-all. A party pooper, a killjoy, a spoilsport.

Luke turned towards her, still laughing at his friends' jokes. "Aw, c'mon Annie, don't look at me like that. The guys were just joking-"

"I'm done, Luke. You always treat me this way, like some sort of side show freak that you drag along to entertain your...'friends'. The people who pretend to be your friends. I'm not going to be your fool anymore. I'm done with you."

The tips of Luke's ears turned pink and he could feel his irritation growing.

"You're done with me…? No, I'm done with you. You're always complaining and whining about every little thing I do. You can't take a joke to save your life. I was just trying to give you thick skin."

Annabeth threw down her fishing rod, furious.

"You're not trying to 'toughen me up', you're just being cruel! I can't even remember why I ever called you a friend in the first place! Thalia was right about you all along. You're not the same."

Kids on the boat began muttering and whispering, growing excited over the dramatic scene. Annabeth shook her head at them all, turning on her heel and heading for the lower deck of the yacht.

She had come to the party for Luke, but _they_ came to the party because of what Luke had. Like leeches, they fed off of his wealth and all the luxury that came with it. And yet, as true of a friend as she was to Luke, he still treated her worse than the rest of them.

She should have never came.

Luke gave a shocked look at her retreating figure, a disbelieving smile drawing itself onto his face. "Who cares what Thalia thinks? She's not even here. Ann', where are you running, huh? We're in the middle of the Atlantic ocean on my yacht!" He exaggerated. Yeah, they were pretty far out, but only an hour's drive, and they would be back at their seaside town.

When Annabeth didn't stop and disappeared into the lower decks of the luxury ship, Luke shrugged.

He wasn't upset. She could go slip and fall overboard for all he cared. What was she thinking, ending their friendship like that in front of everyone? He was being nice to her, giving her the title of 'friend'. Luke was a busy dude, with the looks and money to get with anyone he wanted. This was that twerp's thanks for him hanging out with her? Sure, they had been friends in elementary school, but things changed. Annabeth was getting more and more sour by the day, in Luke's opinion.

She was a waste of time.

Whatever. He wouldn't let her ruin his mood tonight, and besides; he had a party to run! It's not like he did anything wrong. Also, Silena was here tonight. Luke's eyes roamed over to the voluptuous blonde, and they locked eyes, smirking.

If Annabeth wasn't going to stick around, he would have some fun on his own.

"Who's ready to party, people?!" He called out, holding up a bottle of liquor. Yeah, his party had everything. Boats, babes, booze, and more. What could he possibly need Annabeth for...?  
She was below deck, hiding away in the yacht's small bathroom.

Teenagers moved through the rooms and on the decks of the yacht. All of them were too young to drink, but too bold to care, and privileged enough to be acquaintances with Luke Castellan, the owner of the yacht.

Annabeth sighed. She guessed that it helped to have a rich business tycoon uncle like Kronos. How else would Luke afford all this?

She buried her face in her hands, frustrated.

Why had she wasted so much time on Luke? He had teased her mercilessly and treated her like some sort of pet the entire school year, but she stuck around like some sort of dope.

And now here she was, stuck on his yacht. With nowhere to go until the party ended and it was time to return to shore.

He would be furious over the fact that she stood up to him in front of the other party-goer's. Annabeth was sure it wouldn't matter. He would still have his loyal entourage of followers and wanna-be's. Money ruled around here. He was probably still up there having fun right now surrounded by his friends, with a new girl on his arm.

And to think she had...to think she had actually _liked_...

Annabeth didn't care anymore.

She stood up, her chest tightening. She wouldn't get upset over something as stupid as this. She would go get some air, that's all. Pushing open the bathroom door, Annabeth maneuvered around the drunk couples that were lazily making out, and the silly friends that were throwing things around the cabin.

She made her way towards the back of the yacht, where no workers or kids would find her, before going back above deck. She sighed as the sounds of the party grew quieter and quieter, glad to escape from it all.

The yacht was big, but she could still hear the music pumping faintly on the other side. Annabeth exhaled slowly, her brows furrowing as she leaned over the rail, thinking.

Always thinking...

...

...She wished _Thalia_ were still here.

They had been the best of friends, once. However, the spunky girl had moved to New York to live with her dad, and Annabeth had been left all alone in their seaside town. Thalia often wrote and called, but it wasn't the same. Annabeth wasn't as close to anyone else as she had been with Thalia.

Sure, she sat with kids she knew at school during classes and lunch. Sometimes she hung out with groups after school, and sometimes she met new kids at the community center she volunteered at, but none of them were _Thalia_.

They had all grown up together, the three of them. When Luke's uncle Kronos came to town, things had undeniably changed.

Thalia had been the one that had warned her about Luke.

_"Annabeth, I know you like him, but please, think before you do anything with him. Luke's different now. I don't know why, but he is. I think it's his uncle. It's the money, Annabeth. It's changing him."_

Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut. Thalia had been right. 

With both her old friends gone, Annabeth felt lost. She missed the old Luke. She missed the spunky brunette.

Annabeth groaned, her eyes growing glossy.

A friend. She needed one.

**"Hey."**

Annabeth's eyes shot open and she swerved away from the railing of the ship, wondering who had spoken. When she didn't see anyone nearby on the deck, confusion overtook her. Who had spoken?

**"Down here,"** the voice called again.

Annabeth looked down at her feet stupidly. "What?" she called out, wondering where the voice was coming from. It was when she heard splashing, that she raced back to railing, peering over the ship's side.

A boy.

He was bobbing in the water, watching her closely. Only his face was above water, the rest of his body from neck-down was submerged in the dark depths.

Annabeth gasped. Someone fell overboard!

"Are you okay?" She managed while looking around for some sort of rescue flotation device. "You fell overboard? I'll get you out, hold on," she was about to race away until the voice stopped her.

**"No, wait. Come back."**

Annabeth paused, slowly returning to the rail.

"But you're-you need to get out of there, it's getting dark and it'll be freezing soon. Hypothermia is no joke-" she silenced at the intense look the boy was giving her. Now that she thought about it, he didn't seem like he was struggling or in trouble. He actually seemed...comfortable.

The boy looked at her intently before bringing a slow finger before his lips, warning her to be quiet.

**"Can you get any closer to the water?"** he asked.

Annabeth froze, forgetting about his question. His lips.

They...they weren't moving.

Like, at _all_.

"How're you…how're you talking without opening your mouth?" She questioned.

**"Never mind that. Just get closer to the water."**

Annabeth gave him a strange look. Was he some sort of magician or something? A ventriloquist?

"Y-yeah, hold on."

She left the railing and raced to the stern, the farthest part of the back of the yacht. As she raced down the stairs onto the low platform of the stern, she wondered how the boy fell overboard. Too much to drink? Maybe someone pushed him?

No one was there by the stern, all of the kids near the front where the birthday cake and alcohol was. She could still hear the music, but it was even farther away now. She began to think again. How had that boy been talking without opening his mouth?! A prank, maybe? But no, she had heard his voice as clear as day, she knew he had been talking to _her_.

She stepped down onto the lowest platform of the stern, closest to the water. She could simply reach out and submerge her arm, if she wanted to.

Annabeth kneeled onto the platform and peered into the water, looking around the murky depths. There was no sign of the boy.

She grew fearful.

What if the boy had drowned? What if the freezing temperatures locked his muscles up and he sunk? Oh no, what if she couldn't save him?!

At that moment, she saw the boy slowly emerging from the water. Water droplets rolled down his dark hair. His eyes remained wide open the entire time, focusing on her. They seemed glassy and too bright.

Annabeth had never seen eyes that green on anyone. A side effect of too much seawater, maybe?

"C'mon, let's get you out of there," Annabeth tried, reaching for the boy.

He moved away, barely making any splash in the water. Shaking his head in refusal, his voice came again to Annabeth. **"No, I need your help."** His lips remained still.

Annabeth realized that the voice was inside her head.

But that…that was impossible. Annabeth shook her head. Telepathy didn't exist. There were no official recorded cases of it.

Right…?

"I need your help." The voice repeated once more, surprising Annabeth. Maybe telepathy was real after all.

She frowned. "That's what I'm trying to _do_. I'm trying to help you!" Annabeth reached for him again, losing her balance. She nearly fell into the water but a strong hand pushed her back, forcing her onto the platform.

She grew frustrated with the entire situation.

"What's wrong with you? You pull these weird mind tricks, and then you ask for help, but when I try to help, you push me away? Are you crazy? You'll freeze in that water if you stay in there too long, and we're too far away from shore for you to get immediate medical help. I'm trying to save you from dying, so if you'd stop being ridiculous and let me-" and Annabeth stopped speaking.

Because that was when she saw it.

The boy leaned back as _it_ rose out of the water before him, glossy and wet, unfurling like a butterfly. The scales on it reflected the rays of the sunset. It shone like sea glass, like something alien.

A tail.

A _mermaid_ tail.

Annabeth's jaw dropped. "Y-y-you…"

The boy winced, and Annabeth finally noticed what was ailing him. The…tail…was his. And the tail had been run through, stabbed. It was pierced with a large, steel hook.

Luke's steel fishing hook.

The razor point had shredded through the side of the tail, near the fins. Red blood gleamed across the scales, tainting the color.

It looked painful.

"Oh…I-I…you're a mermaid?" Annabeth gasped out, officially freaked out.

No. _Way_.

"Merman," she could hear the boy's voice grit out painfully in her mind. She touched her head, wondering if she was going crazy.

**"I can't get it out. Please."**

Annabeth's eyes widened and she nodded furiously.

Okay. Merman. She would help him out. This was weird, yeah, but the boy...uh, fish- erhm...man?… _whatever_ it was…it was obviously hurt. She motioned for him to come closer so that she wouldn't fall off the platform again. The boy edged forward in the water, raising his hands and lifting himself onto the yacht's platform.

Annabeth observed intently with wide eyes. As he rose out of the water, he seemed like a normal guy. Fingers, arms, shoulders, chest, stomach. He had the whole 'torso' thing down. But as his hips came into view, things somehow meshed from human flesh into fish scales. Within seconds he was sitting on the platform beside her, his fish tail in plain view.

Annabeth stared at him.

He looked around worriedly before pointing to the hook. **"Hurry."**

Annabeth nodded strangely, still in shock over everything. She leaned over, her hands cautiously touching the tail. It twitched the moment her fingers made contact, and a squeal escaped her as she pulled away. Taking a deep breath, she tried again and fixed a good grip onto the tail. It was strangely warm, and slippery.

The hook was made so that if someone tried removing it, it would shred all the flesh on the way out. Annabeth eased it out, careful not to cause any more damage than the hook already had. The scales beneath her fingers actually rose up, like goosebumps.

She looked over to see the boy breathing harshly and gritting his teeth. Annabeth felt increasingly bad as small whining sounds escaped the boy. The sounds weren't telepathic, but actual, auditory, sounds. He was struggling. Annabeth concentrated, pushing her finger into the wound as she eased the hook out of the tail. The flesh inside the wound felt strong and twitched, squeezing her finger.

When Annabeth finally pulled the entire hook out, her hands were slightly bloody. The boy gave a large exhale, relaxing against the platform to catch his breath.

She frowned at the large hook. It was far too large for normal fishing. Who fished during a yacht party, anyways?

Annabeth paused, looking at the merman beside her. His breathing slowed and his fingers weren't clutching the deck as tightly. He sighed heavily, looking at her thankfully.

**"Thanks. I couldn't figure out how to get that thing out. A landwalker snagged my tail. I snapped the cord, but the hook was still in me."**

Annabeth watched carefully as the boy's lips remained still the entire time. His voice resounded softly through her mind.

"How…how are you speaking?" She asked, though she already knew the answer. She wanted to hear what he had to say.

**"Mind speak. Or telepathy, in your language."**

"And how do you _know_ my language? English? How do you…mind speak?"

The boy looked around nervously, almost as if he wasn't sure whether he should say anymore. Finally, he began. **"Mer-people don't like to speak physically. Our voices aren't strong enough to carry through the water. We click sometimes, sending vibrations. Most times though, we mind-speak."**

Annabeth shivered as his voice rolled across the insides of her skull. It felt…too personal.

The boy frowned. **"Does it upset you?"**

Annabeth shook her head slowly. It did, kind of, but this was a merman she was talking to. When would she get a chance like this again?

"I can change to your way of speaking, if you want," the boy answered out loud.

Annabeth jumped at the sound of his actual voice hitting the air. He sounded raspy, as if he hadn't tried talking out loud for ages. She smiled, glad to hear his actual voice and happy that he could speak out loud. What else could he do?

"You speak English, then?"

"Yes."

"How? Who taught you?"

The boy's eyes glazed over slightly. "My father. He speaks many languages. Languages of the sea-folk and the humans."

Annabeth's eyes widened. She was fascinated. She leaned in close, careful to avoid kneeling on the boy's injured tail.

"So mermaids are real, then?"

The boy gave her a curious smile, tilting his head. Wavy locks, as dark as ink, fell across his forehead. "Why wouldn't they be?"

Annabeth frowned. Didn't he know? "Most people believe that they're myths."

"Oh, _that_. Mer-people usually keep their distance."

"Why?"

"Humans are dangerous. To others, and themselves."

Annabeth's face fell. She wouldn't say that he was wrong, but...

"…Do you think _I'm_ dangerous?"

The boy's eyes twinkled and the corners of his mouth drew up into a small smile. He shook his head.

"No. I think you are kind."

Annabeth could feel her face heating up. This was a first. She hadn't looked at any other boys besides Luke Castellan for a long time. She could already feel herself looking the boy before her over before she stopped herself. Okay, yeah, he had some pretty amazing abs...but he was still a merman. She didn't have time for this, she needed to know more about him!

The boy's eyes flicked down to her legs curiously. He gazed back up with those neon green eyes.

"Can I…?" he broke off, reaching out to touch her legs.

Annabeth's eyes widened before she nodded nervously. He had probably never seen human legs up close like this, before. She slowly slid out a leg for him to get a better look at it.

His hands felt normal as he trailed his fingers from her knees, to her calves. He squeezed in some places, prodded others. Annabeth held back a giggle as he slid off her sandals and pawed at her toes, touching each individual one. The boy noticed and smiled at that, messing with her toes a little more than necessary. Annabeth pulled away, laughing softly.

"Do you have a name?" She asked breathlessly, seriously wondering at this point. Did mermaids have names?

"Perseus."

Ah. So they did have names.

"I'm Annabeth," she declared, pointing at herself. "Annabeth Chase."

He smiled at her then, leaning forward. "So you walk on land, Annabeth of Chase? What is it like?" He sounded genuinely interested.

Annabeth vaguely thought of what it felt like to walk, to run across sandy beaches, and jump, and skip. She imagined her school, then her home, and herself sleeping softly inside of it. Her house...man, she kind of missed it after being out here on this yacht for so long. She jumped as she felt something prodding in her mind, like someone was dipping their fingers into her brain. She swiveled towards the merboy, eyes widening as he stared at her.

Perseus. He was looking through her thoughts.

"Sorry," he offered, noticing her discomfort. "That is another way the sea-folk communicate. I only saw your home...it is strange."

Annabeth nodded, pushing down her feeling of uneasiness. "That's alright. It's just...most people don't like their thoughts being seen. It's better for us to just talk, like this, see?"

Perseus nodded. "Then tell me. Tell me what it's like to walk on land."

She shivered before beginning to explain.

"Well, it's-"

"Ann', where are you?" a voice called out, breaking the moment.

Luke.

Perseus swerved towards the sound, alerted, before pushing off the deck. His tail made a small slap as he dove into the water and out of sight. Annabeth froze, awed by the display of incredible speed. Her mind soon caught up with the moment and she raised a trembling hand.

"W-wait Perseus, don't g-"

"Ann'?" Luke called out again, rounding the corner and stepping down onto the platform. "You don't have to sit back here all alone. Why don't you come back to the cabin, yeah? I cleared it out for us. Sorry about the fight…you know how I get sometimes. I miss you already, babe."

When he reached out for her, Annabeth moved away, frustrated.

"Luke, I am not your babe, You're not sorry. I wasn't kidding when I said I was through with you. I don't want us to be friends anymore. I don't want us to hang out anymore, it's over. And I don't know what you think I'm going to do with you in that cabin, but it's not going to happen. Not here, not now, not ever."

Luke huffed. "Fine. Be that way. I know you like me, but whatever. You were always such a prude." And with that, he stalked off, looking for some other way to have fun.

Annabeth watched him go, trying not to let his words sting. She hadn't known that he was aware of her secret affection for him. She thought they had been friends. The thought that he would even suggest something like that angered her.

Once he was gone, Annabeth turned to the water and called across the waves.

"Perseus? Perseus, please, come back!"

Silence.

The waves remained unbroken and Annabeth sat back, dumbstruck. A merman. She had touched a merman, been touched by one. She had telepathically communicated with something that wasn't even supposed to exist.

And Luke had scared it off!

Annabeth groaned and threw herself to the ground, her back hitting the platform. That could've been a scientific breakthrough waiting to happen! Perseus was a living contradiction. And if things such as mer-people existed, what about other mythical creatures?

What else was out there?

Annabeth stared into the night sky from the clean decks of the yacht. He was gone. She wondered vaguely if she would ever see that boy again.

If only she knew.


	2. The New Guy In Town

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

Annabeth tapped her pencil against her desk as she stared out the window, ignoring her report glaring back at her on the computer screen. She gazed at the clouds and the skies, being reminded of the deep blue sea once more.

He was swimming somewhere down there, in that deep blue sea; she was certain of it.

She leaned back in the chair, forgetting about the project momentarily. It was a beautiful day.

The nervous boy sitting on her living room couch cleared his throat, trying to get her attention. She turned away from the window and gave her classmate an apologetic look.

"Sorry. I've been a little distracted lately."

Grover Underwood smiled shyly at her, holding up his hands.

"Oh no, it's totally fine! I was just wondering if something was wrong, I mean…that's the fourth time you've daydreamed today. I mean- that's not a bad thing! It's just, you seem pretty focused most of the time so it's weird to see you…like this. Unfocused. You know what I mean? Sorry, that was-" Grover finished awkwardly, scratching the back of his rasta cap and rustling his brown curls. He always choked up around her. She made him nervous.

"No, you're right." Annabeth said calmly. "I haven't been myself these days. It's nice of you to care, though."

She gave him an understanding grin before returning back to the computer screen and continuing to type up their report.

Grover sighed in relief, clutching his chest. He was glad to not have angered the blonde.

He had actually been really worried when their teacher had assigned **_her_** as his partner for the project.

In all honesty, Annabeth Chase kind of scared him.

A lot of other kids had told him that Annabeth was a hardcore student, taking nothing less than perfection. They said that anyone who was assigned in a group with her had to do loads of work just to keep up with her, and if they refused, she alerted the teacher and the accused kid would fail the assignment.

Grover was all for teamwork and everything, but he didn't want to be partnered up with a slave driver. He was mighty surprised when he came over to Annabeth's house to work on the project, only to realize that she wasn't all that terrible.

She had offered him drinks, listened to his worries, and debunked his fears. No, she wouldn't rat him out to a teacher as long as he tried to help. No, she didn't live to do homework. No, she wasn't pure evil.

Grover thought that she was pretty…cool, actually.

And pretty.

She was _really_ pretty.

Not that he could tell at school. She wore her hair up in high buns and had her usual hard expression on. She was intimidating and unapproachable at school. But at her house? She wore comfy clothes and a softer expression. She actually _smiled_. And she didn't say nasty things to him. Her hair fell down her back in waves and her fuzzy house slippers made her look even less intimidating than before.

He felt bad for thinking poorly of her based on the opinions of other classmates, but she hadn't helped change the rumors much. She usually looked annoyed and hung out by herself, always acing tests and using her razor sharp tongue whenever she felt like it.

He had heard about her fight with her longtime friend Luke Castellan, the richest kid around in their bayside town. Grover had been afraid that Annabeth would still be upset over the fight when he arrived to do their project. He had been afraid that she would take her anger out on _him_. Grover wasn't a stranger to bullies, or anything.

But she didn't speak ill to him. She didn't even seem upset. He had never seen her so calm like this.

He tried to start writing again, his pencil hovering over the page as he thought about some physics property. He sighed, setting the pencil back down.

Physics sucked.

Bored, Grover peered over to see what Annabeth was doing on the computer.

He was surprised to see that she wasn't typing their report. Instead, Annabeth was surfing the Internet. As Grover stood quietly from the couch and edged closer, he could see the title of the website she was on.

 _'Mermaids and the Origin of the Legends'_. There was another web browser titled _'Mermaids: Fact or Fiction?'_.

Grover raised a bushy eyebrow.

Mermaids?

He didn't take Annabeth as the type to look up stuff like that. She seemed too…logical and realistic of a person to entertain fantastical notions like mermaids. Grover smiled. So she could imagine too, huh?

"You like mermaids?" He found himself asking.

Annabeth jumped in shock, scaring the both of them. She swiveled the chair around to glare at Grover, surprised by how close he had gotten without her noticing.

"And what if I do?" she responded in a low tone. Grover frowned.

"Woah, easy! Don't get hostile. It was just a question."

Annabeth's face fell from anger to uncertainty. She gave a soft "sorry," before nervously closing both windows on the computer screen. She looked at her hands, at a loss. Perseus. He had been real! And yet every other source she came across, on the internet or in a book, all of them denied the existence of mermaids. Had she imagined everything? She couldn't have. If she had imagined it all…

…Well, that was a _sad_ thought.

She had really liked Perseus. She would feel awful if he had been a figment of her imagination all along.

She could feel Grover take a step closer.

"Hey…are you okay? I wasn't trying to tease you or anything. If it makes you feel better, I totally believe in aliens."

A laugh escaped Annabeth and she turned to smile at her classmate. He had a funny way of consoling her.

Grover wasn't so bad. When they had first been partnered up, she had assumed that he was one of the lazy stoner kids that would try to push all the work on her. When he had arrived at her house all shy and awkward, Annabeth couldn't help but think she had been wrong. He was a nice guy, and thoughtful too. It was a bit hard finding snacks for them both though, once she had realized he was a vegetarian. Her family, who had stepped out for the day, were a bunch of meat lovers.

"Aliens, huh?" She asked smirking, folding her legs and reopening the mermaid windows on her computer. She didn't feel as self-conscious around him anymore, and freely looked through the paragraphs on merpeople as he stood behind her.

Grover nodded his head vigorously."Yeah! I mean, why not? With the universe as big as it is, there's totally a possibility, don't you think? I don't believe that we're alone on this planet."

Annabeth turned to him. "You really believe that?"

Grover shrugged. "Sure. Besides…don't you believe in _that_? Mermaids?" He pointed to the computer screen, a picture of a buxom mermaid being displayed.

Annabeth sighed, shrugging as well. "I thought I did. Now, I'm not so sure."

Grover kneeled on the carpeted floor beside her. "What do you mean?"

Annabeth stared at him hard, wondering if she should share her thoughts with him. She hadn't told a single soul about Perseus, but it was nagging at her. She had seen a merman. She had seen something unbelievable, something fantastic…it would feel good to finally tell someone else about the ordeal.

And so she sat down on the carpet with Grover.

"It's plausible," she began, looking at her classmate intently.

"It's...wait, what?"

Annabeth sighed, toning down the big words a bit. "It's _possible_. A little over seventy percent of our entire planet is covered by ocean, right? With all of that ocean, we as humans haven't even explored ten percent of it. So who can say for sure that something doesn't exist down there? We haven't even _seen_ all of it yet."

Grover's eyes widened in understanding. "Wow…I guess that does kind of make sense. That's a lot of unexplored ocean."

Annabeth nodded happily, glad that he was catching her drift. "Exactly! In fact, people are still finding new aquatic creatures all the time. And of all the living things on Earth, more than half are found underwater. The odds of there being mermaids…well, they're good enough for me."

Grover shot her a small smile.

"Now I see why you dig that stuff! That was pretty enlightening, Annabeth."

Annabeth shrugged nervously. "That was only me trying to support my speculations with facts. But there was one event…" she trailed off, her eyes glazing over as she fell into her memories.

Grover leaned in, curious. "What event?"

Her steely grey eyes flicked up at him before she continued. "I think I saw one."

Grover's brows knit together. Huh?

"A mermaid," Annabeth explained softly. "At Luke's yacht party."

Grover's eyes widened. "Seriously…? What exactly did you see? Did anyone else see it?"

Annabeth gave Grover a curious look. He seemed so eager to hear her story! Almost as if he…

"You believe me?" She wondered.

She had doubted that anyone would. She wouldn't blame them either, since the story was so unbelievable.

Grover laughed out loud. "Well, _duh_! Of course I do! You're like, what, the smartest kid in our entire grade? You're always so serious, so when you tell me stuff like this, I kind of want to believe you. I don't think you'd lie about something like this, Annabeth."

Annabeth paused. If she had told Luke something like this, he would have blown her off. Even Thalia would have laughed and wondered if she needed her head checked. Yet here was Grover, believing her whole-heartedly without question. That kind of trust made her feel warmer inside.

She put a soft hand on his shoulder."Thanks, Grover."

He shrugged, smiling crookedly. "Ah, it's nothing. Now, tell me what happened!"

Annabeth nodded, sitting back. "Well, I was on the yacht and I had just gotten into a fight with Luke. You've probably heard-"

"- _Everyone_ heard about that!" Grover supplied. He instantly regretted the comment, noticing Annabeth's expression wilting.

"Yeah, well…we fought and eventually, I ended up near the back of the ship leaning over the railing and feeling sorry for myself. All of a sudden, I saw a boy! I thought he had fallen overboard, you see?"

Annabeth continued on, explaining everything about the strange night to Grover. He listened intently during the entire story, obviously fascinated.

Suddenly:

"Wait, wait, hold on," Grover interrupted. "Was the guy a boy, or a man?"

Annabeth looked confused. She thought back on those precious moments, noting the merman's youthful face. "Well, I guess he wasn't an adult. He looked more our age."

"SO wouldn't that make him a mer _boy_ not a mer _man_?"

"...Does it really matter?"

"… _Yes_!"

Annabeth stared for a moment before laughing heartily. Grover really was a funny guy. She wouldn't mind hanging out with him more often.

He couldn't help but smile alongside her as she laughed. "What's so funny? I'm sitting here thinking you were talking to some merdude with the face of a fifty year old, when _really_ , he was our age!"

Annabeth laughed harder, shaking her head vehemently. "No **_way_**. He wasn't fifty years old, he looked like a teenager!"

Grover shrugged, before standing to sit back on the couch. "So you met a tall, dark haired, handsome merdude of legend? Sounds like some gushy love story in the making."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, shaking her head and trying not to blush. "It wasn't like that, really! But I can't help but wonder where he is. Maybe I should rent a rowboat and row through the bay, trying to find him-?"

_**BANG!** _

Annabeth jumped harshly and Grover knocked over his notebook in shock as something hard banged in the kitchen. They both stood, worried. The banging sounds continued, getting louder and louder.

"…It sounds like it's coming from the back door," Annabeth noted, moving towards the door in the kitchen.

"Annabeth, wait!" Grover pleaded, reaching a hand out.

She turned, staring at him.

He went on, nervous. "It might be a robber or something. Maybe an escaped convict or someone trying to get us to join their church! Just ignore them, they'll stop eventually."

But the knocking didn't stop. The knocks turned into bangs once more, soon becoming scratches. The sounds were only getting louder.

Annabeth shook her head. "We can't just sit here. Do you _hear_ that? If they mess up that doorframe, my Dad's going to kill me. C'mon," she said, moving into the kitchen.

Grover followed closely behind, grabbing a rolling pin off of a nearby counter. He silently swore as his hands began to tremble. He watched Annabeth move towards the door, her long blonde hair trailing behind her.

"It might be a wild dog, or something!" Grover said in a shaky voice, edging closer towards the door alongside Annabeth, who had grabbed her old softball bat. The back door rattled and shook as the banging and scratching sounds increased evermore.

Annabeth could feel the fear rising in her, but she forced her trembling hand to reach out and turn the knob. She swung the door open.

Grover screamed.

Annabeth froze.

Perseus.

He was leaning on the door frame, breathing fast with wild eyes. Twigs and leaves littered his dark hair and small cuts covered the sides of his chest. His legs were covered in blood, and he was- he was...

...stark naked.

"A _**pervert**_!" Grover screamed, raising the rolling pin high in the air. Annabeth grabbed his wrists before he brought the pin down on Perseus's head.

" _No_ , Grover! He's not a pervert," she exclaimed with wide eyes, struggling to take the pin from Grover's frantic hands.

"A homeless man?" Grover guessed, speaking fast. His eyes roved anxiously over the crazed looking kid at the door.

"No, not a homeless man! Grover, don't you see? That's-"

"Perseus," the boy gasped breathlessly, interrupting them both. "I'm Perseus."

Grover's eyes got impossibly wider before he looked at Annabeth, then back at Perseus, then Annabeth.

"The merdude? But…where's his tail?"

Annabeth and Grover gazed once more at Percy's lower half, bare for the world to see. He had all the parts a normal boy would have, and Annabeth felt her face heating up more than it ever had until she forced herself to look back up at Perseus's face. It was Perseus, alright.

But his tail was gone. Instead, he leaned awkwardly against the door frame on two bloodied up limbs that looked an awful lot like legs.

 _'Legs?'_ Annabeth wondered.

He groaned painfully, slamming the door frame with his fist and making everyone jump.

"That's my problem," he explained, gritting his teeth. "I'm…I…I think I've been tricked. Someone turned me human."

Grover threw his hands up, freaking out.

"Well hell Annabeth, forget the damn rowboat! It looks like the kid's found you!"

Annabeth ignored the brunette, slinging an arm around Perseus and helping him off of her door frame. "Grover, come and help me with him."

When Grover hesitated, Annabeth put on a pleading look. "Grover, please."

Grover looked between the two before pinching the bridge of his nose, giving in.

"Wierdest. Group Project. _Ever_."

* * *

"What's wrong? Is he gonna' be okay?"

Grover asked the question from the floor, looking up at Perseus who sat awkwardly on Annabeth's living room couch. Grover pointed at Perseus's legs, both of which were being cleaned up now. Grover's jacket sat on top of Perseus's lap as the boy sat on the couch, sparing them of seeing the boy's full nudity any further.

Grover and Annabeth had begun cleaning his legs with wet washcloths and towels, but the entire time, Perseus had been biting into his hand trying to take the pain. The dark haired boy had shifted around in the seat, wiggling his toes and groaning.

There had been no wounds on either of his legs, but for some reason they had been drenched in blood, and to Perseus, they seemed to be pained.

" _ **Agh**_ …it feels like I've been dragged through a coral reef," he hissed in pain, arching his back off the couch as Annabeth cleaned the blood off of his ankles.

His abdominal muscles gleamed through the sweat, his chest expanding and receding rapidly. His hair was still a mess, but there were band-aids on his hands and arms now, thanks to Annabeth and Grover.

Annabeth looked to Grover, the both of them confused. She decided to start by answering his original question.

"I don't know Grover. He doesn't seem alright." She turned to the raven-haired boy, giving him a curious look.

"Where did all this blood come from, Perseus?"

He breathed heavily, still shifting around on the couch seat as if he couldn't get comfortable.

"The tail," he explained breathlessly. "When I tried to get back home…something went wrong. My tail started splitting. That's where all the blood came from. I've never felt pain like that before."

Annabeth noted his discomfort. "Does it still hurt?"

He nodded, sweat gathering on his forehead.

"It feels like a patch of sea porcupines latched onto me. These…legs…they feel like _razors_ , they feel like they're burning." He looked to Grover, slowly leaning forward. "Is this how legs feel for humans? Are they supposed to feel like this?! It must be hell for all of you."

Grover pushed Perseus back into the couch, giving a concerned expression.

" _Relax_ , bro. No, they're not supposed to feel like that. I don't know why you're in pain, since your legs look fine. There's nothing wrong with them."

Perseus sighed, looking at his freshly cleaned legs.

They _did_ appear normal. He couldn't deny the pain that he was feeling, though. He tried wiggling his toes, only to gasp and stop immediately.

Legs felt horrible. He desperately wanted his tail back.

"Percy, man," Grover began, interrupting his train of thought, "how did you even find Annabeth's house?"

Perseus's eyes widened as he thought back. He remembered the way Annabeth's house had looked. He had seen it when he had looked through her mind, seen her thoughts. It hadn't taken long to use her thoughts as his guide once he had reached land.

"I used her thoughts." He said simply. Grover looked confused, but Annabeth realized immediately what Perseus had meant.

"He's telepathic, Grover. He can see others' thoughts. I had been thinking about my house on the yacht, so I guess he saw those thoughts and used them to find this place."

Grover's eyes bugged. "You can read minds? That's _too_ cool!" He turned to Perseus."Okay, okay, what number am I thinking of?"

Perseus's face fell. "...I-I don't know. I can't mind speak anymore."

He couldn't do a lot of things now, he had realized. He couldn't breathe underwater anymore. His gills had closed up, and the demand for air had grown stronger than ever before. When his tail had split earlier that day, he had been underwater, swimming around the bay. After his tail tore itself in half and he found that he couldn't breathe, he had tried calling for help, only to realize that he couldn't send a message to nearby fish for help.

He was alone.

And so he had used his mutilated tail the best he could to swim for land.

By the time he had reached the shore, his tail was gone, and the scales and blood from it were scattered across the sandy beach. Instead, a pair of shaky legs lay beneath him. It had been a struggle to stand, a struggle to stay out of sight from other townspeople, and a struggle to reach this house. He had limped through the forested areas, focusing on his destination: the house of Chase.

"Earth to Percy," Grover called, snapping his fingers in front of the boy's face.

"…Percy?" Perseus asked. Who was that? _Him_?

"Yeah, you, bro. Perseus sounds too…formal, I guess? I'm calling you Percy from here on out. And it's alright if you can't do your telepathy thing anymore, you're still a merdude! Or…at least, you _were_ a merdude."

Perseus buried his head in his hands, freaking out. He wasn't supposed to **be** here. He needed to get back home. If Poseidon realized that he was missing, he would throw a fit, and Poseidon's fits were never pretty.

And what about his tail? It had literally torn apart on him! How was he going to fix this?

He had only heard stories about merpeoples' tails turning into human legs. He had never believed them to be true. But what could have done this to him? _Who_ did this to him?

Annabeth leaned forward, placing a hand on his back.

"Perseus… _Percy_ \- what exactly happened? Tell us everything."

Perseus shook his head.

How did he know he could trust these two? As much as they had cared for him and consoled him this far, he couldn't look into their thoughts for their true intentions, and they were still human. Humans _always_ made a mess of things.

Still. As he looked into the eyes of the boy and the girl before him, he didn't feel any ill-will in either of them. The girl had helped him more than once. He had not forgotten about the hook incident, and if she trusted the boy beside her, Perseus felt that he could trust him too.

He hesitantly nodded. "Okay."

The story had been a long one.

"I had run away from home for a while. My father, Poseidon, had been bothering me about upholding his role as ruler of the sea for ages."

"Wait," Annabeth interrupted, "Poseidon? THE Poseidon?"

"Yes," Perseus answered, ignoring the looks of shock on the two humans' faces. Merfolk reacted in much the same way. Poseidon _was_ king, after all. "I run away from home often, so Poseidon ordered me to carry around a charmed conch shell. All I had to do was blow into it, so that no matter how far I ran away, it would return me home. Today, I was ready to go back home. I blew into the conch, but something was wrong."

Annabeth and Grover leaned in.

"It was tainted. Changed. I think someone enchanted it back home, when I wasn't looking. Cursed it. The conch changed me, right before it shattered. My tail tore in half. My gills closed up and I couldn't breathe anymore. I couldn't call the nearby fish to help me, their minds were closed to me. I figured out what was happening and swam for the shore. I left the conch there, on the beach…"

Perseus gasped, standing awkwardly and making the jacket fall off his lap. "The conch shell! It's still **_there_**!"

Grover groaned from the floor, raising his hands up to shield his face. "Oh my GOD Percy, you're killing me here! Get that out of my face, man!"

Annabeth closed her eyes in time, slowly standing up so that she wouldn't be eye-level with Perseus's anatomy. She reopened them, gazing into his face, now.

"Percy," she began, "I think we should find that conch shell. You need to get back home, right?"

Percy nodded. "You would help me?"

"Of course!" Annabeth proclaimed. "Me and Grover will definitely help you. Right, Grover?"

Grover stood, blushing and embarrassed. "Yeah man, we'll help out. But first thing's first…we can't take you back through town looking like _that_." He pointed to Perseus's obvious nudity.

Perseus seemed oblivious. "What? What's wrong?"

Annabeth looked to Grover. "I'll grab some of my Dad's clothes for him. You guys wait here."

And with that, she ran off upstairs.

Grover stood awkwardly next to Perseus, looking from side to side.

"So," he began, "you're a merdude, right?"

Percy nodded. "Yes. Well-" he paused, looking down at his toes,"-I _was_."

"What do you guys eat? Fish?"

Perseus blanched, looking revolted. "No! We eat seaweed, sea berries, algae. I like coral juice a lot. Sea cucumbers, giant clams, lobster, crabs…We can eat the flesh of other sea-folk, but we try not to eat anything with tails like us. Too strange. I do remember some of the local legends saying that our ancestors ate people, occasionally. And I know for certain that the Dark Ones eat the flesh of sea-folk and humans, alike."

Grover gulped, assessing all of this new information. "The Dark Ones?"

"Yes. The ones that roam the deepest parts of the ocean. Your people know a few, actually. Sirens, serpents, sea monsters. Some are like us mermaids. But they are _not_ us. Many are blind from the darkness down there, but still hang on to a thread of partial human form. They will eat anything. They will kill anything."

Grover gulped hard before continuing.

"Oh! Well, that's uh…pretty messed up. Do merdudes y'know…do you guys…reproduce?"

Perseus's eyes widened in realization. "Oh! Making children, you mean?"

Grover nodded, looking embarrassed.

"Of course we do!"

"…How?"

"Like how anyone else reproduces, I guess."

Grover stared.

"Well," Perseus began, as if he were speaking to a child, "usually a mermaid goes into heat when the seasons grow warmer and the ocean heats up. She releases eggs that she's spent a while making, so that a merman can swim by and lay his essence on the eggs. Many of the eggs die or get eaten, but at least one or two will survive. Like anyone else!"

Grover kept staring.

Perseus shifted painfully on his feet. "…What? Isn't that how humans reproduce?"

"Uh… ** _no_**."

"Well then how…?"

Grover looked around to make sure Annabeth hadn't returned before grabbing Perseus by the arms and sitting him back down on the couch. He cracked his knuckles, preparing to give this merdude the lesson of a lifetime. He figured he'd be doing Percy a favor. Now that he was a human boy, there were some things that he just needed to know.

"Alright man. Here on land, people make babies a little differently. See _that_ , between your legs?"

Perseus bent over and peered at himself, spreading his feet apart. "...Yeah, I noticed that...It's kind of _weird_ -looking, now that I think about it."

" _Focus_ , man. Anyways, all human boys have _that_. Girls? It's a whole different story."

Perseus's brow raised. "What do girls have down there, if not these? Pincers? Tentacles?"

Grover choked on his own spit, struggling to breathe. "NO, dude. Forget all that ocean stuff. Girls have this like…it's like an opening. A door. A clam! Yeah, that's it. Anyways, both girls and guys use that to get rid of waste, y'know? But it can be used for other things, you catch my drift?"

Perseus stared, confused. "No."

"Aw, c'mon man, don't make me say it out _loud_ -"

"Say **_what_** out loud, Grover?" Annabeth asked in mock curiosity, returning to the room with a bundle of clothes in her arm.

Grover jumped, slapping a hand over Perseus's mouth. "Nothing! Percy here was just telling me about stuff that mermaids eat, and Dark Ones, and all that."

Annabeth rolled her eyes skeptically, sitting down between both boys.

"Save the anatomy lessons for later, yeah Grover? Let's not confuse him. He _just_ turned human."

Grover scratched the back of his head, turning red and taking a sudden interest in the floor.

Annabeth turned to Perseus, motioning for him to stand. He obediently stood up and she helped him into her Dad's oversized shirt and cargo shorts. While helping him with his sandals on, she began speaking.

"Alright, Percy. Grover and I are going to walk you through town back down to the beach, okay? We'll find your conch shell, and then we'll find you a place to stay for the night while we figure things out. How does that sound?"

Perseus nodded, grateful. His legs still hurt terribly and his feet felt as if they had needles in them, but Annabeth's soothing hands made the burning sensations begin to fade. He sighed happily as her fingers ran over his pained skin. She paused, giving him an odd look.

Standing, she pulled Grover and Percy up from the couch to stand with her.

"Alright guys. Let's go find that conch!"

* * *

The walk to the beach had been a long one.

Not because the distance from the beach to Annabeth's house was lengthy, but because Percy's legs still pained him greatly. Every step he took was fire through his legs, and Grover and Annabeth had to stop many times to help him along.

Not to mention how he was slowed even more by all the sights to see on land.

"What...what is that?" He asked of Annabeth, watching a car zoom by on the road.

Annabeth chuckled at his awed expression, explaining it to him. He was fascinated. In a way, he seemed like a child due to his lack of knowledge of everything above the sea. Still, she knew he was no child. The stories he had shared about his life underwater were growing stranger and stranger, and Annabeth could barely make sense of it all.

There were others like him? Sirens and sea monsters existed? His father was Poseidon, the legendary sea king?

Incredible. All of it.

Annabeth was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. She could feel the pull. She wanted to know more about him, wanted to understand him better.

Still. He _wasn't_ supposed to be here.

She knew that much. The pain in his legs was only proof. Being on land was a struggle for him, and he had never meant to turn human in the first place. She had to find a way for him to change back, if there even _was_ a way.

Poseidon. He would be waiting for his son, wouldn't he? And if Percy didn't show up soon...

What would happen?

Annabeth shook away the uncertain thoughts, keeping a steady step towards the beach. Percy stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk, but Annabeth quickly steadied him. She entwined their fingers, looking at him carefully.

"Is this okay? It might help keep you balanced. Just hold onto me."

Percy nodded absently, watching the cars zoom by on the road.

One particular car, a red Mercedes-Benz convertible, pulled up along the sidewalk, cruising at a slow speed alongside Annabeth, Percy, and Grover.

Annabeth groaned as she saw the car's passengers. Luke Castellan and his gang of friends.

Grover looked to the ground nervously, shuffling closer to Annabeth and Percy.

"Hey Annie'," Luke called from the driver's seat, looking over at the three friends on the sidewalk. "Are those your new friends, huh? That wannabe' Bob Marley and..." he paused, doing a double-take at Percy. "Who's that guy?"

Annabeth walked faster, pulling Grover and Percy alongside her. "My name's not Annie, Luke. And it's none of your business."

Luke's friends laughed as Luke sped up the car, keeping up with them.

"What's wrong? You used to let me call you Annie all the time, _Annie_." He emphasized. "Where are you guys going? The kiddie park? Or better yet, somewhere boring...the library? You guys need a ride? You're moving a little slow there without wheels."

Annabeth shook her head, growing red in the face. He was ticking her off.

"Aw, Annie, what's with the long-" and he stopped.

Because Percy had moved to the side of the car, glaring at him.

"Hey, what's his issue?" Luke called over, glaring back at Percy. "Is he stupid or something?"

Percy showed his teeth, snarling. This was the _same_ guy that had snagged his tail days before! And now he was disrespecting Percy's new friends, not calling them by the titles they wished to be called by.

Among the merfolk, this was unacceptable, an act of challenge. He had excused Grover and Annabeth's shortening of his royally bestowed name only because they had meant no harm by it, but this boy...he was teasing them all. Making a mockery of them.

Luke chuckled alongside with the other boys in the Benz, pushing his foot on the gas pedal. He jerked to a halt as Percy dove to the front of the car, stopping them.

"Hey, what are you doing, man? Get out of the way!" Luke hollered, honking his horn.

"Apologize and call her by her proper title." Percy demanded. Of course, this human would obey him! He was the prince of the seas.

But Luke didn't obey anything. He frowned, honking even louder than before.

Percy stalked over to the driver's side of the convertible, pulling on the door handle, trying to get to Luke. A sound of wrenching metal filled the air before Luke's car door tore off in a terrific roar.

Luke's angered expression turned into one of horror as he stared at the detached door.

The sound of screeching rubber faded as he and his friends all drove off in a flash.

Percy stood there awkwardly, holding the large car door by the handle. Grover and Annabeth's jaws hit the floor.

"P-Percy, put that down!" She struggled to get out, racing over to him to pry his fingers off the door handle. As she looked them over, they seemed noticeably fine. How had he done that?

Grover looked around in shock. "Guys, lets get out of here! Before someone sees, or a traffic cam catches us. C'mon, c'mon!"

And so Percy dropped the car door in the street and raced off after his friends. The sound of their feet slapping the pavement made a small smile come to Percy's face.

So _this_ is what it felt like to run.

As the wind flew through his hair and whipped his clothes around him, he ran even faster despite the pain in his legs. This was fantastic!

"Percy, slow down, man!"

Percy slowed for his human friends to catch up, but began skipping and jumping as he did, laughing like a child.

"This is fun!" he gasped, jumping even higher. Being on land was fun!

Annabeth and Grover shared confused looks as they ran alongside him.

"Percy," Annabeth panted, "how did you do that? How did you pull the car door off like that?"

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, skipping now. "You guys can't do that?"

"No way!" Grover panted out. "That was like...superhuman, man!"

Percy tilted his head, thinking as he switched from skipping to running. "Well, compared to humans, I guess merpeople are kinda' superhuman. My dad's Poseidon, so I'm stronger than the rest of the merfolk. We need to be able to live in both shallow and deep water. The pressure down in deep water can get pretty tough to bear, so we need to be strong. I guess I'm just stronger than you two."

Finishing up his explanation, he saw the beach.

"There it is!" He shouted excitedly, veering off the sidewalk and down the road. Annabeth and Grover heaved, trying to follow after him.

They slowed down the moment their feet touched the sand, but Percy continued on, kicking up sand and rolling around in it. It seemed like he wasn't searching for the conch anymore, but playing instead.

Annabeth sighed, watching their friend roll around on the beach. "We _need_ to find that conch shell."

"Yeah," Grover nodded, "but what are we going to do once we find it? Percy said it himself. The thing didn't work for him. It broke."

Annabeth thought on that. "Well, yes. But it's a clue! Remember when he told us that he thought someone had messed with it?"

Grover nodded.

"Well," Annabeth went on, "I'm no expert on mermaid magic or anything, but I don't think this was an accident. I think someone _meant_ to turn Percy human. Someone who knew that Percy would eventually need to use the shell. And I don't think it was his dad."

Grover frowned. "But wasn't it his dad that _gave_ him that shell in the first place?"

Annabeth nodded. "Yes. I know that. But I don't think his dad did it. Remember? Percy said Poseidon gave him the shell so he could return home. He's used it before. It's _worked_ before, taking him home. So why didn't it work _**this** _ time? Besides, why would his dad want to make him human? His dad was nagging him about being sea king, right? Well, a human boy can't be king of the sea. Someone else must have done this."

Grover nodded. "Okay. Let's pretend someone changed him into a human on purpose. _Why_ would they do that?"

Annabeth shrugged.

She didn't know. What were the benefits of turning a merboy into just a...boy?

Grover shuffled the sand around with his feet. "You know...Percy said something about other sea creatures. Like mermaids n' stuff. He said there were like, sirens and sea monsters. And 'Dark Ones'. What if a _mermaid_ didn't do this to him? What if one of those creatures did it?"

Annabeth shrugged again. "I don't know Grover. This is just...too weird. Until we figure out more of what's going on, we should keep Percy away from other people. Imagine what would happen if people realized that he's really not human?"

Grover frowned. "Uh, we're kind of failing at that, already. Look. He's already talking to that candy vendor over there!"

Annabeth turned.

Percy was chatting it up with Sally Jackson, the local candy seller. She was a small woman and owned a small stand that she set up by the beach everyday, selling shells, pearls, and most of all, candies. Percy was already munching on a few, smiling as the older woman cooed over him.

Annabeth and Grover raced over and kicked up sand before pulling Percy back.

"What are you _**doing**_ , man?" Grover asked wildly. Percy tried to answer him through a mouthful of candy, but was interrupted.

"Sorry, Miss Jackson!" Annabeth apologized. "Don't mind him! He's new in town. We were just...showing him around!"

Sally frowned, a little sad that Percy had to leave.

"Is it true that he can't get home?" The older woman asked.

Annabeth and Grover froze. What _exactly_ had Percy told her?

"I can drive him wherever he needs to go." Sally offered. "It's no trouble, honestly!"

Annabeth stepped back shaking her head. "Um, Miss Jackson, that's _really_ not necessary-"

"Yeah, you can't drive to my home!" Percy giggled through his mouthful of candy, high on sugar. "You'll drown!"

Sally gave them all a horrified look.

Grover slapped a hand over Percy's mouth, edging away from the candy stand. "Ignore him, Miss Jackson," Grover tried. "He's just-"

"I ran away and now I can't get home!" Percy shouted, spitting candy chunks everywhere. "I'm not supposed to be here! My conch shell broke! I have nowhere to stay!"

Miss Jackson slapped a hand to her chest, feeling sorry for the young man. This teenage boy was a runaway? No wonder his clothes were full of sand and baggier than they should have been. He had twigs and leaves in his hair, and seemed as if he hadn't eaten for days. He also walked with a limp. Sally felt her heart go out to him. He had been so sweet to her when he had approached her candy stand!

So he was a runaway?

She had seen runaways pass through their bayside town before.

Always hopping on buses to nowhere, or getting into cars of strangers. Sleeping on the beaches, wandering through the woods. Kids _always_ went missing. She feared for Percy. His friends seemed like they would rather keep him close, but maybe...maybe that was because they thought Sally would report them all to the police? Oh no, she wouldn't do that! She wanted to gain their trust, to find a safe place for this boy.

There was _something_ about him...

"Oh, that's terrible! I have plenty of other conch shells that you can see, Percy. If you need a place to stay, you're welcome at my home. My husband, Paul, and I would love to have you."

Annabeth shook her head vehemently. This was getting out of hand.

" ** _No_** , Miss Jackson! We just...he needs...we're helping him get back home, so you don't have to worry about anything, we can-"

Sally smiled gleefully. "Oh, you're helping him? You're all so kind. Please, allow him to stay with my husband and me. We will shelter him for the night while you try contacting his parents. It's no trouble, really, it isn't. I promise I won't turn him in to the authorities. I would just hate to see him get into any trouble. You could visit him whenever you like!"

Percy smiled at that. He wouldn't mind staying with this woman! She seemed kind. And she had tasty candy, too.

Annabeth frowned. "I don't know..." She knew where Miss Jackson lived. Right by the beach. But what if Percy said something? What if he did something? They couldn't let the other townspeople realize what he was.

"Annabeth, it's alright." Percy assured, stepping beside Sally. "I like her."

There was a long moment.

Finally, Annabeth sighed. "...Alright..."

Sally and Percy beamed, glancing at one another.

"Don't feed him fish!" Grover blurted suddenly. "He can't eat fish!"

"Oh! And watch out for your strength, Percy. We aren't as strong as you." Annabeth added.

"And call us if you need any help! Or if something happens!" Grover insisted.

"Better yet, we'll visit you everyday until we can get you back home!" Annabeth urged.

"Don't tell her about you being a...well, you know." Grover whispered, only loud enough for Percy to hear. The dark haired boy nodded, understanding.

"Wait, wait," Annabeth interrupted. "The conch! We still need to find it!"

Percy smiled. "I already found it."

"Where?"

Percy pointed to Sally's candy stand and pulled a conch shell off of her display. Unlike the others, the one in his hand was gnarled and burnt, blackened and strange-looking. It had cracks alongside of it and was missing a few small shards.

"Sally picked it up earlier when she was searching for shells on the beach to polish and sell." Percy mentioned, holding up the shell for everyone to see. "That's why I came over to talk to her. Here, you have it."

He put the ruined shell in Annabeth's hands before running around the beach once more. Sally laughed, watching him play.

Annabeth showed the shell Grover. He looked up at her uncertainly.

"Annabeth...I don't know about all of this. He's a _merman_. He's a myth, a fantasy, he's not even supposed to exist! Can we really help him? I mean, we're just...kids. We barely know anything _about_ him. What if we can't change him back? What if he's stuck like this forever?"

Annabeth gave him a sad look, sliding her fingers over the broken conch shell.

"Grover, we...we have to _ **try**_. If we don't help him, who will? He doesn't know anything about the human world. He trusts us. We have to keep his secret."

"And what if we can't do that?! What if _everyone_ finds out? Before you know it, the government will knock down our doors and drag us all away to be tested on or something!"

"Grover," Annabeth pleaded, "if we leave and don't help him, people will _definitely_ find out. At least he has a chance with us."

Grover looked away, still uncertain, but Annabeth pulled him back, forcing him to look at her.

"What about Poseidon, huh?" She continued. "You think the **_king_ ** of the seven seas is going to be _happy_ when he realizes his son, his heir to the throne, is **_gone_**?! In the stories, Poseidon's flooded towns, whole cites even! If we don't get Perseus back home, who knows what Poseidon will do! Are you a good swimmer? Because _I'm_ not! I can't do this alone, I need you, Grover!"

Grover sighed, throwing his hands up. "FINE! Fine. But let's do it _fast_ , alright? We turn this kid back into a merman, we send him home, we stop Poseidon from throwing a mega temper tantrum, and we finish the damn group project, alright?"

Annabeth threw her hands around his neck, grateful.

"Thanks, Grover."

Grover shrugged and blushed nervously, unsure of what to do with a girl hanging off of him. It didn't happen often. "Yeah, it's no big deal...Well, you're the smart one. What do we do now?"

Annabeth pulled back, her mind already working overtime.

"We have the shell. Now, let's ask Percy a few questions. He might tell us a clue. Maybe he'll mention a way to turn back. Maybe he'll mention someone in his life who might have wanted to do this to him."

Grover nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. He's staying with that Jackson woman tonight, right?" When Annabeth nodded, he stepped away from her, walking towards Sally Jackson once more.

"Hey, Miss Jackson? Do you mind if Annabeth and I join you guys for dinner tonight?"


	3. The Party To Remember

"You did _what_?"

Luke felt himself backing up slowly. He preferred putting a more comfortable distance between himself and the large man before him.

The look of annoyance on his uncle's face was gradually turning into one of fury.

"Not **_me_** ," Luke tried, "it was Annabeth! Her and some guy she was with. He was the one who ripped the car door off."

Kronos perked up at that. "A _teenager_ did that to my car? That's ridiculous! And why would you be so angry with that Annabeth girl? I thought you…liked her." Kronos's sentence ended a little sourly.

He could care less about teenage infatuations at the moment, when Luke had Kronos's convertible sitting in the driveway, destroyed.

Luke frowned, looking away bitterly. "No way...not anymore, at least. Besides, she doesn't know how to take a joke, or let loose a little bit. She can go fall off a cliff, for all I care."

Kronos stalked over to his desk, filing through some paperwork and milling over what his nephew was telling him. He didn't care an ounce about his nephew's love life. And he didn't understand why Luke would tell such a fantastical lie like this. There's no way some random teenager ripped that door off. Luke probably had left the door open and wasn't paying attention, allowing another car to drive by into the door, tearing it off.

If his nephew wrecked the car, why not own up to it?

"Luke, I highly doubt that a boy of your age tore off a car door with his bare hands. Why you are lying to me, I do not know, but I will tell you this; the damages to that car _will_ be paid, and they won't be paid by me."

Luke gulped hard. He didn't have that kind of money. "It's true uncle! I'm not lying, I swear, it's true. I saw him do it. All of my buddies saw him do it!"

Kronos sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and relaxing back into his chair. Damn teenagers.

"I don't believe it. Any of it. But since you're so insistent on making up stories, I'll make you a deal. You don't want to pay for the car damages, correct? Then find the boy who 'supposedly' damaged my convertible. Make him pay. And if he doesn't, warn him and his parents that if they do not pay for the damages to the car, I'll take legal action and drain their pockets dry."

Luke threw his hands out wildly. "How am I supposed to know where he is?! I don't even know the guy. Never seen him before! He seemed new around town or something. How am I supposed to find him?"

The sound of a fist slamming into wood echoed throughout the room, startling Luke terribly. Kronos removed his meaty fist from the desk slowly, inhaling deep through his nose. Honestly, the car didn't matter. He could pay for the damages himself. But he had a reputation to uphold in this town and all. He couldn't let others damage his things and think they could get away with it. If only his nephew weren't so insufferable, things would be so much easier!

"Luke. Think, for once. Go find Annabeth. Make _her_ tell you who the boy is that damaged my car. She was with him, correct? Then she must know him to some degree."

Luke nodded warily before quickly vacating the room, trying to escape the tension. "I'll find the guy. Don't worry about a thing!" he called out as he exited the room.

He couldn't disappoint his uncle again.

Kronos simply watched him go, reclining in a chair.

"Oh, I'm not worried," he murmured to himself, "because if you don't find him, then I will."

* * *

"So, where are you from? Where're your folks from?" Paul asked.

Percy paused, along with his friends. They all glanced at one another with wide eyes, their cheeks full of the delicious pasta that Miss Jackson had made.

"I don't wish to speak of that!" Percy blurted through the mouthful of food, remembering what Annabeth and Grover had told him repeatedly before they entered the house of Sally Jackson and her husband. He was not to speak of where he was from, or how he came to be a land walker. He was not to display any of his powers that might suggest he was anything but human.

Annabeth and Grover visibly relaxed and continued eating, albeit a little bit slower. Percy was catching on pretty fast, keeping the 'mermaid thing' to himself.

Paul frowned.

"What? What's wrong? Kid, I'm just asking. Me and Sally are worried about you-"

His wife placed a soft hand on his shoulder, advising him to hold his silence. She shook her head slowly with soft, sympathetic eyes.

Turning back to the three teenagers at her dinner table, she smiled.

"I'm sorry about that, kids. Paul really does worry. I do too, but we'll give you space and time. We'll give you a chance to figure things out. In the meantime, Percy is in good hands."

Annabeth smiled, before continuing on with her pasta. She glanced over at Percy, who seemed to be picking at his food now. As Sally and Paul began chatting about town affairs, she leaned over to him.

"Are you okay? Why aren't you eating? Does the food taste bad?" She whispered.

Percy frowned, stabbing at a few noodles with his fork. "No, it tastes amazing. It's just…this…human food is too heavy for my stomach. Do you think Sally has something lighter? Do they have any coral strips? Or better yet, seaweed?"

"…Uh…no. I don't think they do."

Annabeth lifted a curious eyebrow as she settled back in her seat. Huh. She would have to take Percy to the local sushi place sometime soon. Of course, they couldn't order any fish. She wondered if it would look strange if they ordered only seaweed rolls.

Well, if he wasn't going to eat, she may as well hide his lost appetite from the two adults across the table. The last thing they needed was more questions.

When she had made sure that Sally and Paul weren't looking, Annabeth grabbed Percy's plate and tilted the rest of his food onto Grover's. Grover smiled brightly at them both before wolfing down the leftovers.

Paul turned back to Percy, smiling a bit.

"Sorry about that sport. I didn't mean to pry, or anything. But my wife doesn't normally…take complete strangers in," he glanced over at Sally curiously before continuing. "I don't know much about you, but Sally says you're a good kid, so you can count on old Paul Blofis to have your back!" The sandy haired man beamed, pointing at himself and puffing out his chest.

Percy's eyes widened considerably as a smile drew itself on his face. "Blowfish? You are of the Blowfish family?"

Paul's smile fell and a small frown took it's place. "No, it's Blofis, not blowfish. Don't worry, it's a common mistake, but-"

"I _love_ blowfish!" Percy announced, ignoring Paul's words. "My friends and I would play all day with them when we were little! The best game was spikeball. We were great at spikeball."

Paul frowned. He didn't follow. "Huh? I don't …wait- _spikeball_?"

Percy went on, despite Annabeth's warning glances and Grover's sudden coughing.

"You know, spikeball? You catch and pass the blowfish before they blow up and stab you? It's great. I'm pretty good at it, too! I was playing a few rounds with some dolphins by the San Diego coast one day. They tossed the blowfish to me and I tried to toss it back, but I messed up my throw and hit a swordfish instead. The blowfish blew up right then and it's eye got pierced through, so it charged at me, and let me tell _you_ , I was sore for weeks! I still have the scars. Would you like to see?"

Percy slammed his arm down on the table, shaking the silverware as he held out his hand, displaying a long white scar on the underside, completely oblivious to the bewildered expressions of everyone at the dinner table.

For a long moment, Paul was silent.

Suddenly, he laughed loudly, slamming the table with his fist.

"Oh! I GET it! You're talking about the San Diego Chargers, aren't you? They're a decent football team. You play ball with your friends? I've never heard of any team called the 'Blowfishes' or 'Dolphins'. Is that some new kinda' football slang or is that what you and your friends called yourselves?"

Percy nodded slowly. He did not know what this 'football' thing was, that Paul spoke of. A human activity, probably. "Yes, I played with blowfish."

Paul laughed, smirking and pointing an approving finger at Percy. "Funny kid! I like your style." He glanced down at Percy's empty plate, giving a low whistle. "You done with dinner already, huh? Well, I'll show you our guest room then! You'll sleep there while you're staying with us."

Paul stood up, still smiling, and led Percy away from the dinner table and down the hall.

Sally, Grover, and Annabeth sat in silence for a few moments.

"I…I don't think I understood what they were talking about very well," Sally admitted quietly. She wasn't a big fan of sports. Or blowfish. Or whatever Percy and Paul had been talking about.

Grover shrugged. "Thanks for dinner, Mrs. Jackson. Can I be excused? I'm gonna' go catch up with your husband and Percy."

Sally nodded approvingly and Grover stood, following after Percy and Paul down the hall.

Annabeth wiped her mouth and stood, excusing herself as well. A hand touched her shoulder and Annabeth found herself gazing into the eyes of a very serious Sally Jackson.

"Annabeth," Sally began, "I know you're a smart girl, but I'm pretty sharp myself. You're hiding something from me."

When Annabeth didn't say anything, Sally went on, pleading. "Tell me what's going on with Percy. I promised I wouldn't report any of this to the authorities, but I need to know that he's safe and will continue to be safe if he returns home."

Annabeth froze. She couldn't tell Sally the truth.

But she couldn't lie, either.

"Mrs. Jackson, I promise, I'll get Percy home. I'll make sure he's okay. I know it all seems very strange right now, but I…I know who his parents are. We're going to get in contact with them."

"Yes, yes," Sally urged, "but _why_ did he run away in the first place? Is something going on at his home? Was he being abused?"

"No!" Annabeth exclaimed. "No, no, that's not the case at all! He just…had a fight with his dad, a non-physical, harmless fight. He's just having a hard time getting back home."

"I'll drive him," Sally insisted, worry taking over her expression. "Anywhere he needs to go, I can take him."

Annabeth wanted to claw at her hair. Sally's kindness was kind of ruining her plans. " _No_ , Mrs. Jackson. Don't…you can't drive him home."

"Why not?"

"He's…" Annabeth began, searching for a lie, "…he lives really far away."

"What? Well then how did he get here? How do you plan on getting him back? A boat ride? A plane ticket?"

"Mrs. Jackson, _please_ ," Annabeth finalized, "we've got it under control. Grover and I know exactly what to do. If you could just…keep Percy here for a few days, that would help us out a lot."

Sally sighed, pressing her fingers to her temple. She really wanted to believe Annabeth, but she had to be the responsible adult in this situation. Why didn't Annabeth want to tell her anything? Why did she need a few _days_ to contact his parents when all it took was a simple phone call? Why did Percy run away in the first place?

"Annabeth, I'm giving you a week. Seven days. If you don't have definite proof of Percy being able to return home, if I don't get an email or a phone call from his actual parents informing me that they are on their way, I'm going to have to turn him in to the police. They'll find his parents, if you can't."

Annabeth felt her throat blocking up.

"And I would like to meet them, if possible. I want to be sure that the people we turn him over to are his actual parents, and that they will treat him well, like good parents should."

_'No.'_

Seven days? That wasn't enough time. That was…that was impossible! She couldn't find his parents that fast, and Sally certainly couldn't meet them.

And there's _no_ way the police could reach his parents. The police wouldn't be able to reach Poseidon! Percy would remain parentless and be filed through the government's system. The courts would declare him an orphan and send him to a boy's home or a juvenile detention facility, or worse…they would find out what he was. They would find out that he wasn't human, and then every scientist from the all corners of the globe would come, they would come in droves. They would run tests on him, interrogate him, dissect him…! Or maybe not even that. Maybe they would try to cover up his existence. Maybe they would burn his body or hide it. And if that happened, who knows what Poseidon would do to humanity?

Seven days.

Damn.

But as Annabeth looked into the eyes of the concerned adult before her, she could tell that Sally was deadly serious.

 _'Okay, Annabeth. Breathe,'_ she told herself. She resisted the urge to tell Sally the truth of the situation. If Miss Jackson thought she was mentally unstable, she might just turn Percy in to the police that much sooner.

Fine.

"Seven days," Annabeth agreed, her eyes a little lost, "you got it, Mrs. Jackson."

Sally nodded silently before easing up a bit. "As long as you know. Well, follow me then. I'll show you the guest room as well."

Annabeth trudged after Sally, who folded herself into Paul's side near the guest room doorway.

Paul smiled brightly at Annabeth, who couldn't return the joy. Her mind was running full speed.

"Well go on in, Annabeth! Your friends are already in there. Sally and I will leave you guys to yourselves for a while. I'm sure you kids have lots to talk about. It must be fun, having no worries!"

* * *

"...Seven days?" Grover echoed back, his jaw falling. He shook his head vigorously, clutching at his rasta cap in despair. "No way, we'll never make that deadline. We're doomed."

Annabeth calmly removed Grover's hands from his hat.

"No, Grover. I know it seems hopeless, but we can't give up. Not yet. We still have a lead, so…" she turned from Grover, seated on the large guest bed, and faced Percy. The boy was kicking his feet up in the air and wiggling his toes, wincing every now and then. Annabeth tried her best to sound kind and friendly despite the slowly intensifying situation.

"Percy, why don't you tell us a little bit more about your home? The conch shell…where did you usually keep it, when you weren't using it?"

Percy continued wiggling his toes, shooting a small smile over towards Annabeth. He seemed very happy to be back on the topic of his watery home.

"The royal chambers. I have my own grotto in the chambers, but there are others nearby."

"So other people lived with you? Who?"

"My father, Poseidon, of course. Isis, my cousin. My aunt, Aquaxea, and my uncle the general, Oceanus. Only royals and their close family members are allowed in the royal chambers."

Annabeth nodded. That made sense. "Are you close with all of them? I know you fight with your father, but what about your uncle and your aunt? Your cousin?

Percy smiled. "I get along with her just fine! I've played with Osiris since I was little guppy. Sometimes we scraped each other's scales, but nothing too serious. My aunt is kind. My uncle can become very serious very often, but he has good in him."

Percy's smile faltered. "Why are you asking these…? Do you think that…they did this to me?" Percy looked offended.

Grover shrugged. "Annabeth's right. We should makes sure everyone is investigated, even famil-"

"My family? You _dare_ accuse my family?" Perseus bellowed, jumping up from the bed and staring at them both, disbelief shining in his eyes.

These land walkers may have been his friends, but a prince of the sea simply couldn't allow someone to cast blame on his family like this. The act of a mer-person turning another mer-person into a human was unnatural and unforgivable, especially when it was done to a royal. His family was above such despicable crimes.

The blonde girl edged onto the bed towards Grover, caution lacing her voice. He had gotten angry so fast...

"Percy, I just- it's best if we look at every possibility! I'm not trying to speak badly about your family. If we're going to figure this out, you have to answer the questions, even if they bother you. You need to be honest with us!"

Percy stood quietly, gritting his teeth. He seemed to really be having trouble accepting that one of his close family members may have cursed his conch shell. Who would do that to him? And why…?

He needed to know. If he was going to fix this, he needed to know.

"Alright."

He sat back down, his expression a little more grim than before.

Annabeth continued on, her voice a little firmer this time. "Did you have any enemies back home? Any rivals, anyone who gave you trouble or may not have liked you?"

Percy sat back, thinking. "Well, there were plenty of blowfish that didn't like me. A few eels. A hammerhead that I bothered often, some starfish. Erm…Triton! He was foul."

Annabeth leaned forward. "Triton…?"

"Yes. I wronged him once. I told my father not to give him a position on the royal guard because he beat me in a race earlier. My father listened to me and denied Triton an honor that he deserved. I don't know if he ever found out that I was the cause."

Annabeth nodded eagerly. That was definitely a lead. "Okay, who else?"

Percy shrugged. "I haven't wronged anyone else. At least, I don't think I have."

Annabeth frowned, unsure. She was certain that at some point in his life, Percy must have hurt someone. Maybe he hurt a few feelings or broke a few hearts. She could certainly see _that_ happening. Maybe his prestigious title made others jealous of him. Maybe someone cursed his conch out of an act of envy.

It could have been a lot of things.

Grover sighed and ran a hand through his wild curls. "Man, I've got more questions than answers, now. This isn't helping."

Annabeth looked at both boys, both of them seeming upset now. Grover was hunched over, his hands buried in his hair. Percy looked to the floor listlessly, his mind in another place far, far away from them all. It would be hard getting information out of them when they were like this. The day seemed to be weighing down on both of them, Percy especially.

"…s' hopeless…" Grover mumbled, fumbling with his fingers.

Percy looked saddened by that, gazing around nervously before focusing his green orbs on Annabeth.

"Do you really think I can get back home…? I- I can't stay here forever."

Oh boy.

"Hey," Annabeth suggested, "don't think about all that right now. Why don't Grover and I show you around town? Let's take a break from investigating and relax a little. Besides, you've never been on land before, right?"

Percy smiled a little, his eyes beginning to glint mischievously. "That's true…"

Grover perked up at that, looking excited himself. He could show his new merdude buddy around. "Yeah man, you're with the land dwellers now! What do you want to do? Do mermaids even know what humans like to do for fun? Isn't there anything about living on land that you've wondered about doing?"

Percy paused, his smile drawing itself up on his face.

"Well I've already ran and jumped and skipped…. Hm. Dancing. Definitely dancing. It's in all the stories about humans among the mer-people. Is there somewhere that we could dance? I've heard fantastic things about humans dancing before. At big, grand parties!"

Grover slapped a heavy hand on Percy's shoulder, happy. "You heard the man. He wants to go to a party."

Annabeth fingered at her hair, thinking of where there might be a party going on in town. A party that _wasn't_ hosted by a rich Castellan. Hm…

There was only ** _one_** other kid in town that had the money to party like Luke.

Annabeth snapped her fingers in a moment of clarity, getting off the bed and grabbing her sandals.

"Let's go to Rachel's place! She's always partying down by her house on the beach. I'm certain she's got a bonfire going and a bunch of kids will be there. They always are."

As Grover stood to get his shoes, Percy sat back curiously. "Rachel? Bonfire?"

Grover and Annabeth both grabbed Percy's shoes and made their way back to him, helping him slip the things onto either of his feet. Percy still had a lot to learn about shoes, but the humans didn't seem to mind helping him out.

"Rachel's just a girl from our school. She likes throwing parties. Constantly." Grover said a little lowly, slipping the shoe onto Percy's heel.

Grover had never been invited to one of her parties. He didn't really it personally. He hadn't been to _any_ parties before, and he was pretty sure Rachel didn't even know he existed. It's not like too many kids paid attention to him. And now with all this 'end-of-the-world' business? Ugh.

Poseidon would have the world drowned before Grover was ever popular.

Then again…

He glanced over at his new friend who watched him with wide, attentive eyes. Percy was hanging on Grover's every word, believing every syllable that slipped from his lips. No kids at school had ever given Grover's words so much value as Percy did now.

Grover smiled. Maybe the merdude was worth all the trouble.

"So she has music, then? You need music for dancing," Percy inquired, remembering his lessons from his old royal tutor when he had been taught about humans. Humans loved to dance, and so did mermaids, but mermaids didn't have music like humans did. Sounds travelled differently underwater than they did up here.

"Yep!" Grover responded. "She likes music and dancing a lot, and her party will be sure to have plenty. Lots of kids from school will be there."

"What is this _'school'_?" Percy asked. They had said 'Rachel' was from there as well.

Annabeth looked horrified, but Grover laughed pleasantly. "Lucky you! You don't _want_ to know what school is, trust me." He chuckled a little as Annabeth slapped at his arm.

"Don't listen to him, Percy! School is VERY important-"

"Yeah, maybe to some people," Grover said, making a show of pointing his thumb in Annabeth's direction. She huffed as a slow smile grew on Percy's face.

He thought it was funny the way the tips of her ears turned pink.

"C'mon Percy, it's already pretty late. If we don't head out now, we'll miss out on the party. What do you say? You want to go?" Annabeth asked, changing the subject.

Percy nodded eagerly, following after his friends. He watched curiously as Grover and Annabeth told the Jacksons where they were going for the night. Percy scoffed.

He was a prince, he could go where he pleased! He brushed past the two teenagers, walking out the front door and forcing them to stumble after him.

They quickly flanked at his sides, grinning as he stared up at the darkening, starry skies.

"See something you like?" Annabeth questioned, looking up at the sky with him.

Percy nodded vaguely, his lips parting as a quick sigh escaped his mouth. He had seen the night sky before on his adventures away from home, but it all seemed different on land, now. He couldn't dive away from its view into the ocean. It spread out all over the heavens above them. It was like an ocean of it's own up there.

"You…you two see this all the time?"

Grover answered first. "Yeah man, that's the sky. Don't you merdudes ever swim up for air every once and a while? Don't you ever see it?"

Percy bit his lip, a bit unnerved. It was really hitting him now.

He was human. For how long would it be…?

"Not like this. It's like another ocean up there."

His hands trembled slightly at all of it, the ache in his legs returning. He lowered his eyes, preferring to look at the street ahead.

Princes were supposed to be fearless, courageous. They were supposed to be able to handle anything. But this world of land walkers was foreign to Perseus, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to leave it.

He was scared.

Fingers wrapped around his, holding tightly. The warm connection soothed his nerves. He held onto the hand, liking the feeling. Annabeth shot him a small smile. She blushed a bit as his eyes bore into her, locking their fingers together, palm to palm.

Hm. Percy _liked_ this. This feeling was quite nice. He should share it with his other human friend.

He reached over to lock his fingers with Grover's hand, laughing as the boy pulled away and gave him a strange look. Percy raised his and Annabeth's hands for Grover to see, motioning for Grover to the same. Grover reluctantly joined in, and Annabeth giggled at them both.

 _'This will be an interesting night,'_ she thought.

They continued on.

Luke and a few buddies watched from the street corner as the three teenagers held hands, walking briskly down to Rachel's house, from the look of things. Luke sneered. How weird could you get?

He beckoned to his own friends, and they all slipped from the corner and followed after, determined on clearing his name. Luke smiled. His uncle would be sorry to have ever doubted him! He would show him the real kid that messed up that car.

Out of nowhere, the store signs, traffic signals, and streetlights all flickered, shutting off.

Luke's friends glanced up at the last shining streetlamp, shivering. "Why's it so cold all of a sudden? Is it a blackout?" one asked. "Did you hear that?" another called. "Sounded like a-"

Luke ignored them, spying on Annabeth and her friends. They were looking up at the lights too, just as confused as Luke and his friends. Other passerby began filling the streets, trying to figure out why the power had gone out. Perseus glanced around warily before pulling the other two along at a faster pace.

Luke frowned deeply at the sight of Annabeth trailing after the new boy. "C'mon guys, let's move it."

The blonde boy and his friends slipped into the night after them.

A dark, hooded stranger hid in the shadows staring at them all. A hand raised and fingers snapped once more.

The last shining streetlight flickered off, covering the town in darkness.

And soon enough, the stranger followed too.

* * *

_'This'll be an interesting night,'_ Rachel thought.

Rachel liked surprises, though she wasn't surprised by much. She was pretty good at predicting when the unexpected would happen, and usually foresaw most suprises.

Sure, there was a power outage earlier. That was kind of a surprise. The town's electrical system was pretty functional. She had torches and bonfires and flaming tikis for that, though.

Tonight however, she had not expected to see Annabeth Chase walking through her doorstep.

With two other guys, no less!

Before greeting them to her awesome beach house at her awesome party, Rachel guessed three things.

One? Luke and Annabeth were over.

Not only had it been the talk of the school, but this just proved it. Rachel didn't put much belief into anything that couldn't be proven, and so when the rumors first started circulating, she ignored them. I mean, how long had Annabeth and Luke been friends? Since elementary school, it seemed. But now, with Thalia gone, it seemed as if things had fallen apart. And there was no way Luke would let Annabeth walk around town with two other guys, not the cute rasta cap dude or the dashingly handsome one either. Luke was all about appearances, control, and keeping his things as _his_ things. If Annabeth was with other boys like this, Luke wasn't in the picture.

Two? There was a new kid in town.

She knew Annabeth and had stared at Grover Underwood before in the halls at school. They weren't strangers to her. But the other one… As Rachel glanced closer, the boy's appearance became less handsome and more unnatural. His hair was a little too dark, his eyes a little too bright and intense. He walked with a slight limp, almost as if his feet hurt. Now, Rachel was sure she knew almost every face in this small seaside town. Half of those faces she had seen at her beach parties. She knew people. This kid? He was a mystery.

Three…Annabeth was looking for something.

She was also hiding something. There was no way she would come to this beach party when she could be studying or reading in a library somewhere. Someone or something must have made her come here.

Grover? No, he was a bit of a loner, why would he want to come to a party? With Annabeth? Why were they even hanging out together? Hm…the new kid, though. The new kid stood between them both, staring in awe at the decorations and crowds of people. **He** was the connection between the two, she just knew it! And it was most likely that he was the reason Annabeth and Grover were here now. But why?

Rachel just _had_ to know.

She strode up, her red curls bouncing alongside her back. She smiled brightly, spreading out her hands casually to greet the three newcomers like old friends.

"Hey, what's up Annabeth? Grover? It's really cool that you guys came tonight. It'll be a blast. I hired a DJ and everything."

Annabeth gave Rachel a grateful smile, relaxing at the cheery greeting.

She had been afraid that they wouldn't be welcome, especially after the 'Luke' incident. She already knew it was common belief that she wasn't a hit at parties.

"Thanks Rachel," Annabeth spoke softly, the music pumping through the room trying to drown out her voice. "It's nice seeing you, too. I'm glad you're cool with us being here, even though we weren't invited-"

Rachel scoffed, waving her hand nonchalantly. "Annabeth, NO ONE here gets _invited_. People just walk in, party, and walk out! It's no big deal. Don't worry about it." She leaned over, grinning at the brunette standing awkwardly behind Annabeth. "Hey there, Grover! How's it going?"

Grover looked surprised that she knew his name, smiling a bit. "Oh! Ah, it's cool. Everything's cool."

Rachel nodded before moving on. "And who's…this? A new face?"

Rachel noted how much the other two teenagers stiffened as the dark haired boy introduced himself. Strange.

"Greetings, Rachel of 'school'. I am Perseus. My friends told me your parties have lots of dancing."

Rachel shot Percy a strange smile, her eyebrow quirking. "Yeah? Well, most parties have dancing. The good ones, anyways. Nice to meet you, Perseus. Can I call you Percy?"

Percy raised his head defiantly, his eyebrows knitting together suspiciously. "Only if you're a friend, may you call me that."

Rachel's eyes widened at the sudden hostility. She cleared her throat, quickly trying to cover up the lapse in the conversation. "Oh! Well…I hope we become friends. So…you're new around town?"

Percy nodded, his expression relaxing. "You could say that."

Rachel's interest perked. She ignored the way Annabeth tried to tug Percy away. "Oh yeah? Where are you from?"

Percy's eyes brightened as he thought of his home. "Far away."

"Why are you visiting town? Do you have any family here?"

Percy laughed at that, the infectious sound making Rachel's heart beat a bit faster. "The world of land walkers is the _last_ place my family wants me to be right now."

Rachel paused.

"We're going to go get drinks," Grover interrupted, steering Percy around the red headed girl. "It's been nice talking with you Rachel!"

Annabeth followed after the two boys, and Rachel leaned back against the wall watching them all go.

 _'Land walkers?'_ she mouthed.

Yeah. This night was **_definitely_ ** going to be interesting.

* * *

Luke sent his friends through the crowds, trying to look normal at Rachel's place.

He watched Annabeth talk a bit, dancing with her new friend, who was a shit dancer, to say the least. The guy danced like he was on stilts.

When the rasta kid pulled the new guy away towards the punch table, Luke motioned at his friends. They all nodded and slid through the crowd, trying to corner Perseus and Grover at the food table.

While his buddies kept Annabeth's friends busy, Luke decided to have a little chat with his own ex-best friend.

"Hey Annie," he called, sliding next to her.

She jumped harshly, her eyes wide.

"Wh…what are you doing here?" She obviously hadn't expected him to be there. Luke grinned.

"Rachel invited me," he lied smoothly.

Annabeth frowned, remembering the red-head host's words. "Rachel doesn't _invite_ anyone, Luke. Don't play games with me, I'm not in the mood."

"Oh, really? Well you seemed to be in the mood when you were dancing with those creeps. Since when did you hang with newbies and rejects anyways?"

Annabeth looked furious. "Shut up. You don't get to call them that! You, with your haughtiness and narcissism and over-zealous-"

Luke smiled slyly. He knew this side of her, the pretentious side that tries to find just the _right_ word to insult whoever was angering her. Even though he was on the receiving end of the insult, this was good. Better than her ignoring him.

"I'm what? Huh? I'm what, thesaurus? Bookworm? What am I, know-it-all?"

She cringed. He used to use those terms when he would pull at her hair and smile at her, not in true insult.

He went on. "You can hang out with other guys all you want but I know they won't match up to me or what we had. It's useless, Annie."

Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe this.

"You miss me, don't you?"

When Luke froze, she laughed at him. She really couldn't believe this! Luke, the guy who acted like he didn't care, was actually jealous of her new friends, wasn't he? No wonder he was bad-mouthing them, trying to put a divide between her and them.

Luke scowled, his palms sweating. "In your dreams! I'm just trying to warn you about that guy, alright? He's a freak, you saw what he did to my car-"

Annabeth grew stone-faced, all her expression erased away. "I don't know what you're talking about. A simple boy didn't do that to your car. Besides, he's not a freak. Neither of them. They're better friends to me than you were. I'm not going to stand here arguing with you. This is a party, and I came with someone."

Annabeth moved away, but Luke grasped her wrist.

"You _like_ him, don't you? The new kid. I can tell."

Annabeth watched the way Luke's face tightened and his eyes grew dark. His grip on her grew tighter and she hissed, shoving at him in disbelief. How could he be so creepily possessive of her? Hell, he couldn't even be _nice_ to her!

"So what if I do?! It's none of your business. We're not friends or anything." Her cheeks burned at her admitted fondness of Perseus.

She stepped back as Luke reached once more for her, but a pair of arms wrapped around her, stopping everything.

Luke was pissed. The new guy, _again_? And this time he was holding Annabeth like he was protecting her from him or something. Standing there, glaring at Luke with Annabeth in his arms like that…it wasn't right. And Grover was with them too, letting Annabeth clutch onto his hand from Perseus's embrace. Where the hell were his friends?

Luke looked around, watching Ethan and Octavian trying to budge past the crowds towards the three. He couldn't trust those dolts to do anything. Fine. He would get these guys himself.

With fists at his sides and fire in his eyes, Luke stalked towards them all, ready to beat the hell out of someone.

And that was when all of the torches blew out, taking all light with them. Blackness.

Somewhere, someone screamed.

* * *

The hooded figure had been watching the humans dancing on the beach before magicking all the lights and fire away. A few humans screamed and shouted at the blackout. The stranger sneered. Disgusting. All of them, pathetic sacks of meat, waiting to be burst open.

Everything about this upper world was nauseating. The air was too loose, there was no pressure or vibrations to sense. These legs felt like fire. The ocean was far better, far quieter. Especially the deep ocean, where it was dark. At least this darkness was more like the deep dark of home.

But there was a mission here. A purpose. Master had said to kill the sea prince, and yes, killing would be done tonight. Killing was fun. Eating the kill was even better.

And Master had hid him well. The master was good at all things that needed disguises, all things that must hide. Master had even given some magic to complete the mission. That's how he was able to turn the town's lights out. That's where the legs came from. Gods, those legs burned, but that would soon pass.

The sea prince had been found, and those stupid human boys had led straight to him. The time had come.

The figure shrugged off the cloak. If there had been any light that dark night, the kids on the beach might have been able to see him. The slime, the scales, the horns, and the big black eyes. They would've been struck down by fear at the sight of his teeth, his deformed body.

He groaned, squirming as the magic released him from this binding human form. His legs grew large and strong, his feet webbing and talons growing from his toes. His teeth stretched out of his mouth, over past his cracked, dead lips. Skin stretched and ripped as his exoskeleton expanded within him, his sockets widening as his bulbous eyes poked out, seeing nothing.

Still, he could hear perfectly. Smell. _Taste_.

Digging into the sand, he smiled as he clawed his monstrous form towards the crowds of land-walker children. The sea prince was hiding in there somewhere, and if it took spilling the blood every child here to get to him, the stranger would do it.

He crawled along through the crowds in the dark, brushing past a girl scraping two rocks together near the bonfire, trying to bring the fire back to life. She shrieked as his mottled, fleshy fingers slid across her toes.

"What's wrong?" another girl called from the dark. "Are you okay?"

The girl paused, shivering though she couldn't understand why. It had been so warm just a moment ago.

"I-I think I stepped on something gross. I think it's seaweed…" She stopped, suddenly able to make out the figure at her feet in the night. It stood fast, quietly, towering far above her. A slimy hand shot out, choking her screams.

The Dark One croaked long and hard, happily sliding his teeth into the struggling teen's throat.

It had been a long time since he had tasted human. Now he knew why their ancestors used to feast on them so often!

They were _delicious_.


	4. The Assassin

He had to admit, sensing things in open air was very different from sensing things underwater.

Everything was a bit too loud, a bit too scented, a bit too colorful. Sounds traveled so much faster up here and his skin couldn't feel the vibrations of nearby creatures of the surface world.

However, Percy could sense a Dark One anywhere.

All of the merfolk could. The beasts positively stank of deeper waters, salt, and grime. Younger merfolk were warned with frightening tales of reckless fish who dove too low into the sea. Parts where no light reached, parts where the pressure was strongest, those were the boundaries. To cross them meant a solitary fight for life and an eventual messy death. Merfolk did not venture down and the beasts rarely came up, and even then, they needed magic to keep their bodies from failing them in less pressurized waters.

Years ago, he had accompanied his father on a scouting trip to investigate the disappearance of several merchildren. They had taken a big brigade of guards with several spears. His father had even brought the trident. Perseus wanted to know why he couldn't stay home and play blowfish with the others.

_"The merfolk trust in the royal family to keep safety in the kingdom. We are the strongest among them. One day you will take my place so you must learn how things work."_

They had found dead merfolk that day, in nearby grottos. Scales were strewn across the water and red covered the stone walls, almost as if the victims had been smashed into the rocks over and over. Tails and torsos were mauled, severed in the most grisly way. Glassy eyes. Pale skin. Insides spilling out.

The work of a Dark One that had risen above their deep levels with the help of magic.

Magic.

He could sense that as well. A supernatural aura nearby…

He almost doubted himself. A deep sea monster on land? Sea magic **_above_** the sea? How? Why? It would take strong forces to even keep the thing from imploding on itself once above sea level.

Perseus reached for Annabeth's hand and found nothing but air. He then groped in the darkness for Grover.

They needed to get away. In this weakened state as a human, Perseus wasn't sure he'd be able to protect his friends from the raw power that he was sensing.

Grover shrieked in surprise.

"Percy? Man, you _gotta'_ stop grabbing people like that it's dark, I didn't know it was yo-"

"We need to leave, Grover. Now."

Luke was preoccupied with finding his way through the dark, anger forgotten. Kids all over the beach were calling out for their friends, for the lights to come back on, stumbling through the dark.

_"I can't see anything!"_

_"Who was that screaming?"_

_"Where's Rachel?"_

Groping around, Luke grabbed someone's shirt collar. He was about to let go until a voice called out,

"Annabeth?"

Luke paused, unsure of what to say. "N-"

"Hold onto me, Grover and I will lead you out."

Luke tightened his grip onto the collar, considering wringing it tight around the new kid's neck.

Still, he didn't know the way out. They seemed to.

He eased the tension in his knuckles and trailed behind them quietly.

* * *

_'Where are they?'_

Left behind and completely unaware, Annabeth stumbled, being shoved this way and that by figures in the dark. Kids were racing to find a way out of the beach house.

She could hear screams. Bone-chilling screams.

A hard knock to the shoulder sent her flying into a nearby table, spilling food and drink onto the floor. She yelped, clutching the edges of the surface. She could hear glass cups shatter.

"Grover?" she called out. "Percy?"

Her shouts were drowned out by the tumultuous footsteps and shouts of the other party goers fleeing. The crowds pushed her back and Annabeth resigned to climb on top of the table, avoiding any more collisions.

For a few moments the table shook as the crowds emptied out of the room.

Silence.

Another glass tipping over. A groan from somewhere outside. More silence.

Annabeth trembled, afraid to leave the table. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could make out a few figures in the dark, but couldn't see far enough to tell where the exits in the room were or if anyone else was near her.

Another scream pierced the air, coming from the beach.

The sound of something crashing through wood filled the beach house. There were a series of clicks and wet, ripping sounds further in the house before the screams broke off weakly.

Annabeth was surprised to find herself shaking terribly, her fingers clutching the edges of the table and her breaths coming short. Whatever horrors were on the beach had made their way inside.

A touch to her ankle made her squeal.

"Shh!" came another voice from beneath the table. "Get down here, under the table!"

Rachel, Annabeth realized. She recognized her, even in the dark. Slipping off the table and palming her way onto the floor, Annabeth almost fainted in relief at the feel of curly red hair against her face. She wasn't alone. Rachel was trapped here, too.

"Did you see anything up there?" Rachel grabbed Annabeth's shoulder, gripping tightly.

"No. It's too dark."

"Never this dark before. Even when the moon isn't out. This isn't normal." Rachel's voice sounded tight and small.

Annabeth nodded vigorously, believing her. She couldn't help but notice how softly they were whispering. Almost as if they were afraid of someone overhearing them.

Was there someone out there? Some _thing_?

"Did you hear the screams?" Annabeth forced out in a sharp whisper. "They were coming from the beach in the beginning. Now they're in the house. Whatever's causing them is on the move."

Rachel nodded, grateful for Annabeth switching into 'brainiac'-detective-mode. Being logical was the best thing right now. Freaking out wouldn't help them.

But she could hear the fear in the blonde's voice, and that scared Rachel more than she would ever admit.

"Should we try to move out from under the table and risk running into what the kids on the beach did? Or should we stay here and wait it out?"

Annabeth shuffled around, unsure. "Try calling the police first. Tell them there are injured kids here."

Rachel snorted softly. "Good thing I decided this party would be the non-alcoholic one this week." She paused. "Annabeth, my phone's dead."

Annabeth tried as well, surprised. "Mine too…the power must have went off for everyone nearby-"

Creak.

Annabeth and Rachel froze like statues, neither moving an inch. They could make out the features on each other's face. Panic.

Creeeaaaak.

Rachel slipped her fingers through Annabeth's for comfort, listening. Something was pushing open the door on the other side of the room. A heavy body moved into the room, it's footfalls sounding spongy and dense. There was a slight scratching noise, a strange panting.

Annabeth nearly retched right there, gasping a bit alongside Rachel.

The _stench_. It was atrocious, permeating the room the moment the door had opened and whatever had opened it, moved inside.

Their gasps made the intruder pause it's steps.

"Sea prince," a low, croaky whisper came. Inhuman. "Sea prince, why do you hide? I can smell the salt of the royal waters on you. It's pointless."

Rachel scooted closer to Annabeth, mindless of the glass on the floor cutting into her knees.

"Sea prince, I have feasted on the flesh of humans. They are wonderful. Better than I had ever imagined. But I know you will taste better than any of them. My Master said so."

Annabeth listened intently. From the sound of it, they might be dealing with a 'Dark One' from Percy's stories. An assassin, no doubt. Who did the creature work for? Who was 'Master'?

"Sea prince, I know where you are. I can hear your heartbeat. I can smell the blood of a human beside you."

Annabeth glanced at Rachel's knees, seizing up the blood. Rachel gazed back at her fearfully, apology shining in her eyes.

"Come out and I will kill you honorably."

Annabeth inhaled deeply through her nostrils before rising up from under the table, ignoring Rachel's pleading grip.

She had calculated a few things. One, the Dark One had feasted already, meaning that the kids screaming on the beach and in the house had probably been devoured. That had been nearly a while ago. Hopefully, this meant the beast was a bit full and feeling sluggish. Percy had said before that sea people eat lightly, after all. She might be able to outrun it.

Another thing was that it seemed to know English. Perseus said he only knew the languages of 'land walkers' because his father had taught him. This meant that whoever this Dark One worked for had taught it the same. That meant the real mastermind behind this scheme was had the knowledge of the royal family. Probably someone close to them, if not one of them.

Also, it was clearly blind. It seemed to think that _she_ was Perseus. Why? Maybe she smelled like him, maybe not. Whatever it was, it worked in her favor.

She planned.

She knew what she would do now, and she wasn't going to leave Rachel behind to do it. She gripped Rachel's hand and tugged. Rachel stood on shaky legs, clutching onto Annabeth's side. Annabeth squeezed reassuringly.

"Tell me-" she said deepening her voice like a boy's, trying to put on the haughty attitude Perseus usually had, "-some things before you kill me. I accept that you've outsmarted me. At least let me know why."

The Dark One croaked proudly, obviously pleased by the submission. "Sea prince is not so smart. Not as much as Dark One."

Annabeth continued the deception. She would start with easy questions. "What happened to the lights?"

She could hear the Dark One pant heavily. "Me, I did it! I magicked the lights away. Master gave me the power to do so."

"Who is 'Master'?"

The Dark One paused for one long, scary moment. "You mean to trick me, sea prince"

Annabeth struggled to control the situation again. "You mean to _kill_ me. And you will. At least tell me who is behind this."

The Dark One moved closer, his hulking figure becoming horrifyling more visible by the step. "Master is the hider. Master is the concealer, the witch of the deep depths. Gave me magicks. Said to kill you, to strip the meat from your bones. To bring them back so that Master can throw them at Poseidon's feet."

Annabeth silently grabbed the table's edge, motioning for Rachel to do the same. The redhead caught her meaning and gripped with purpose.

"Why? Why offend the king in this way?" Annabeth called out.

"Master wants to repay Poseidon for what the royals did to her. Wants to tear his kingdom apart, watch it fall. Watch him fall like she fell into the deep."

It drew closer. "Master meant for the conch to kill you, to make you drown like a feeble human in dishonor. You avoided death. So Master sent me to finish what she began."

"What is your master's name?" Annabeth tried, realizing that the time for questions had run out.

"No. No more talking. Only eating."

The creature dove for them, claws outspread.

"Now!"

Annabeth and Rachel feebly turned the table over, ducking down as the claws sawed through the tabletop and the weight of the monster bore down onto it. The table flew into the wall, nearly crushing the girls if it had not been for the sturdy legs of the table stopping the flat surface from smothering them.

Rachel pulled Annabeth out from between the table and the wall.

The creature hissed, flicking it's tail out to cut skin and stop them from escaping. It only managed to scrape the heels of the girls' sandals as they ran away.

"Liar!" It seethed, too late in realizing it had been duped. "Female! Not a prince of the sea!"

Together the girls dashed through the dark. Rachel knew her own beach house well enough. "This way!" she commanded as they raced through a doorway.

The creature left behind, struggled to remove it's claws from the table, screaming and hissing. He scented the air determined to track down those wretched girls. Though one had tricked him, she still smelt of the real sea prince. She might lead back to him.

He had to hurry. If Master found out about this failure...

It kicked the table off of the sharp digits and scuttled after them. The scents would lead the way.

* * *

Grover threw his rasta cap on the sidewalk.

"How the hell did we grab Luke instead of her? She's still in there!"

Percy leaned down, gingerly picking the cap back up whilst watching all the party-goers run away from the beach, down the streets. He glanced at Luke.

"Did you see her when we were fleeing?"

Luke bit his nails, wondering about Annabeth now. "I…I don't think so. Last time I saw her was before the lights went out and she was with you, then. I thought she would've gotten out by now."

Perseus shook his head. "Grover's right. We have to go back inside and find her."

Returning the cap to Grover, Percy shouldered through the crowds back to the beach house. Grover and Luke chased closely behind, staring warily at one another.

Perseus slowed at the doorway, staring into the darkness of the beach house. He sniffed the air, pulling back in disgust.

"Perce…" Grover began.

Perseus ran into the dark beach house.

For a moment, all was silent.

Then Grover and Luke yelped as two girls came rushing out of the shadows onto the street, Perseus hot on their heels. A looming figure thundered towards the doorway, causing Grover and Luke to scramble after the others.

The creature shrieked, swinging its tail wildly. The slimy appendage collided with Luke's back, forcing him to the ground.

"Help!"

Everyone slowed to turn in horror, but it was Perseus who ran headfirst at the beast. Using his knowledge of jumping he had acquired earlier, he leapt at the creature, fist cocked back. The punch only jerked the Dark One a bit, enough for Luke to scramble out from the tail's grip.

Claws swung down to rake at Perseus's torso. He clumsily dodged them, tripping over the legs he was unaccustomed to. He wiggled away as the claws came again, slicing up the pavement.

Luke ran over to Rachel. "Gimme' your car keys."

Rachel frowned, dangling the keys in front of his face tauntingly. "So you can leave us all here, in danger?!"

"Just give them to me!"

Luke snatched them and ran down the road.

Annabeth looked desperately after him, disappointment ringing through her.

She then turned towards the fight, watching Perseus stumble out of the claw's way. She glanced at the front of the beach house, looking for a way to help keep Perseus from becoming sushi. Seeing the party banners, her eyes widened.

That was it!

"Grover, help me get those banners down!"

The brunette nodded, and together they ran around Perseus and the feuding beast, stopping at the front of the beach house. Annabeth tugged one side of the party banner down, Grover handling the other end.

Grover looked at her.

"Run around the monster again, but this time, we're using the banner to pull this thing down. Try to swing it up near it's face. Run as fast as you can, put your weight into it."

Together, they sped towards the creature.

"Percy," Grover shouted, "get down!"

As Percy ducked, the Dark One swiveled towards the sound of Grover's shout, unaware of the banner coming headfirst towards it.

The bright, shiny banner caught the beast by the neck, and the weight of the two teenagers was enough to bring it off balance. The creature swung wildly before falling on it's back, choked.

Perseus jogged towards them, panting and unharmed.

Annabeth beamed at Grover. "It worked!"

Claws sliced at the banner and the beast jumped up, free and furious.

Grover gulped. "Guess not."

The beast pummeled towards the teenagers, claws outspread. Out of nowhere, a shiny red Jeep collided with the beast from the side, sending it into the air. It fell hard enough to make the ground tremble, twitched a bit, then lay still.

"Luke!" Rachel called out.

Luke slid out of the Jeep, a bit dazed. "Those airbags work really well, Rachel."

Annabeth dropped the banner and rushed to embrace him before flinging her arms away from him as if shocked. She did not bother to hide her amazed smile, however. "That was- You saved us. I thought you were leaving us behind?"

Luke smiled warmly at the almost-embrace, though if only for a moment. "Yeah, I didn't want you guys getting eaten by whatever that was, so. Y'know, improvisation."

Percy frowned at the scene.

How could his friend even think to touch that human boy? He was rude and hooked the tails or merfolk and purposely disrespected the titles of others.

Luke faced Perseus's glare and walked up to him. "You saved me back there, man. When that thing had me pinned. I…thanks."

Perseus considered the boy before turning away in silence. The look on Annabeth's face at his silence made him feel bad, but he kept quiet. Royals apologized to no one.

Luke went on. "Look…my uncle wanted you to pay for the damages on our car. The door you ripped off earlier? Yeah."

Perseus scoffed. Couldn't the boy be happy enough that Perseus spared him from the Dark One's jaws? "If it is compensation you want, I have plenty back home. Dubloons, spells, special corals-"

Grover subtly kicked Perseus in the back of the knee, staggering the boy and effectively cutting off the speech.

Rachel's eyes widened, stepping forward. "What's his deal?"

"What do you mean?" Grover asked, playing dumb.

Rachel stamped her foot, insulted for being taken for a fool. "I mean _him_. He's always saying weird things like…like he's not from here."

"He isn't." Annabeth tried, before remembering that Rachel had heard every word she'd said to the monster before. Damn.

"Then _where_ is he from? A place without 'land walkers'? Special corals, spells?"

"He speaks a lot of languages. Sometimes they get mixed up in his head, so he says weird things." Annabeth could feel the lies flow all too easily off of her tongue.

Rachel turned to the blonde, astonishment written on her face.

"Do you think I'm stupid? That thing back there…it called you 'sea prince'. It meant him, right?" Rachel pointed at Perseus.

Perseus quirked a brow, wondering how this 'Rachel' girl found out about his true title, especially after his human friends had made it clear he was not to let anyone find out his true identity.

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "Well, is it true? Where are you from?"

Annabeth and Grover froze in their tracks.

Perseus considered the question. Should tell the truth? The girl already seemed to know who he was...

Glancing at the tense faces of his human friends, he decided on a lie, instead.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Rachel, of…the beach house. I am no sea prince, but a mere land-walker like you!"

Grover slapped his hands over his face and groaned, embarrassed for his friend.

"We don't have time for this." Luke interrupted, pointing at the stunned beast on the road, still. "I don't care where he's from, what languages he knows, or if he's some Mythomagic lover. I care about not getting caught by the cops near this entire disaster. And I'm pretty sure there are a ton of dead kids behind your beach house Rachel, so now's not the time."

Rachel wilted at that, gripping at her arm. She knew. She had heard the screams. All because they had showed up to her party…! But that was why she needed to know about Perseus so bad. This all happened only when he showed up, he must have been connected to the creature's appearance….

Grover frowned, looking around. "The electricity is off. No one could have called the police ye-"

The beast grunted before exhaling heavily, the large body beginning to melt. The teenagers shouted loudly and scrambled back as the creature dissolved into thick, brown sea foam.

The street lights flickered back to life, further illuminating the mess.

Luke huffed in Grover's direction. " _Now_ people can call others. Like local law enforcement! Let's get out of here before something worse happens, like us getting arrested."

They all jogged away from the scene, following Luke's lead.

Perseus smiled, glad to have the wind back in his hair and his feet pumping below him. Grover chuckled beside him, just glad to have survived the night.

Annabeth veered over to Rachel's side, lowering her voice so the others wouldn't hear.

"It's not your fault, you know. What happened to those kids."

Rachel's eyes glittered wetly, rage sparking within her as she stared at the back of the boy before her, laughing and smiling. The screams that weighed so heavily on her, the sounds of massacre still ringing through her head, it was all because of him. She was definitely going to find out who he was.

"I know."

* * *

The Castellan home was large and grandiose, with elaborate furnishings and shining marble floors. It reminded Perseus of his own home, under the sea.

"Why are we at Luke's house?" Grover whispered in Annabeth's ear, a little too loudly.

Luke glared at the brunette. "I can hear you! You can leave, if you want to."

Grover's eyes widened as his hands went flying up in submission. "No, nope I'm fine right here."

Perseus, sitting on Grover's other side, glanced at their strange host. "I am curious as to why we are here, also."

"S'better than out there," Luke sighed, gesturing to a window. The sound of police and ambulance sirens blared through the area.

Rachel sighed heavily. "It doesn't matter if I'm here now. I'll be in deep trouble later. It all happened on my property. They're going to find me and question me later, anyways."

"What are you going to tell them? That some large monster ripped it's way through your party and the guests?" Luke scoffed.

"Luke-" Annabeth began angrily, ready to berate him.

Rachel cut the blonde girl off. "He's right. They wouldn't believe me. We'll have to come up with something else."

"We?" Luke repeated dumbly.

"Yes, 'we'. You four are the only others that saw what really invaded the party, besides me. Everyone else that saw it is probably strewn across the beach right now. Hell, _we_ nearly got eaten by it. Besides, if I get in trouble, you get in trouble. You ran away from the scene just like the rest of us."

Luke huffed, folding his arms and accepting that he was probably stuck with these guys for a little longer than planned. "Fine. Tell them…uh…"

Grover intercepted Luke's mumbling. "Just tell them that you didn't see what happened. That you just heard screams and ran out with everyone else. No biggie."

Rachel nodded, liking the idea. "Alright! It's not like anyone can deny that. Everyone else was panicking too much to notice me or what I was doing."

Everyone nodded, before reclining back.

"What do we do now?" Perseus asked.

"We go home oursleves, I guess." Annabeth shrugged. "Miss Jackson will be wondering where you are. And I need to talk to you about something."

Annabeth desperately wished to question Perseus about what she had learned from the creature before. She wanted to ask him if he knew about anyone that was a master of disguises and concealment, if there had been anyone that Poseidon had punished that would want to kill Perseus.

The sea prince paid Annabeth no mind. Perseus couldn't help but smile, a warm feeling in his chest.

Miss Jackson was slowly but surely becoming someone precious to him, alongside Annabeth and Grover.

Back in his kingdom, his mother was unknown. He was told that his father had appeared with him one day, out of the coastal waters. No one doubted his heritage once his eyes opened and his tail colored into the deep green patterns of the royal family line. As he grew, his mother had been in the forms of several nannies, nurses, and maids of the palace, never just one solitary woman, alone.

Though he desired a true mother's touch, royals were not to show weakness. He dealt with not having one fairly well. He didn't know what he had been missing until Miss Jackson smiled upon him on the beach earlier that day.

Though Persues would never tell a soul, he secretly wished that the human might come to love him as she would her own child.

Luke interrupted Perseus's thoughts. "Before you guys head off, new kid, I need to talk to you for a second."

Perseus paused, itching to turn his head towards his friends and seek their approval. Despite everything that had happened so far, the tall blonde boy was still the same strange human that hooked Perseus's tail many nights ago.

Even with unnatural strength and royal blood, Perseus did not want to be left alone with Luke.

The blonde noticed his discomfort and taunted.

"C'mon, new kid, don't look at them. Let's talk it out ourselves, like men."

Perseus tightened his fists and ignored the quiet protests of his friends, heading after Luke.

He was no man...but he was no coward either.

Together, the two boys walked down the long halls of the Castellan home. Their footsteps echoed through the large halls and Percy couldn't help but wonder at the sound, looking around.

Soon enough, Luke stopped them before a large door. He turned to face Perseus.

"You're going to talk to my uncle and explain everything about the car."

Percy nodded, unafraid and a bit uninterested.

Luke's expression turned into a glare. "You're also going to stop getting Annabeth into trouble. Ever since you showed up, things have gotten weird, and she's in the middle of it all. I know if I tell you to stay away from her, you won't. So just…don't let her get hurt."

Perseus stared. "You surprise me, Castellan. I had been sure you didn't care about Annabeth. You disrespect her name. You left her to die."

"I came back!" Luke snarled, angered by the boy's blunt accusations. "Yeah, you saved me, but I came back and saved all your sorry lives! You'd be dead if I hadn't rammed that thing with Rachel's jeep. So shut up! I've known Annabeth for way longer than you. You've only been here, what, a day? I've been with her for years. You're just her new project. Something for her to take care of, like a pet."

Luke closed in on Perseus, but the boy didn't budge.

"You better watch what you say to me from now on, new kid. And keep your hands off Annabeth. Or I might just let it slip that you're a freak. Ripping off car doors? Scientists would have a field day with you!"

Perseus gazed back calmly, unmoved on the outside but fearful within.

He didn't want to be cut open for human experimentation!

"Don't test me." Luke whispered, before knocking on the large door and walking away.

Perseus watched him go, chaotic emotions swirling through him.

"Come in," a deep voice called from the other side.

* * *

Kronos watched as a young, dark haired boy walked into his study. His eyes were a bit too bright, his walk pronounced with a clear limp.

"And who are you?"

The boy straightened. "Luke sent me."

"Why?"

"He ordered that I speak with you about the damage to your…ehm-" the boy paused, before remembrance sparked in his eyes, "…your car! Your car."

Kronos sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Luke honestly believed that this limping, simple-minded teenager had destroyed his car with bare hands?

Not very likely.

"I hope you have informed your parents and plan to pay for the damages."

"My father can pay any price you name."

Kronos's brow lifted as he chuckled. "I doubt that, boy."

Perseus frowned, insistent. "He can! He has more money and power than you could imagine."

Kronos sighed, tired of the boy's lies. "Oh? And what is his name? Surely I would recognize the name of such a powerful man."

Perseus grinned proudly, glad to have his royal title recognized. "He is called Poseidon!"

Kronos frowned. "I don't know of any powerful man named Poseidon in this country, or any other for that matter. Is that the name of his company?"

Perseus was unable to stop his tongue, drunk on pride. "Company? He rules the seven seas!"

Kronos sighed. Luke had sent him a lunatic.

"Young man, you are clearly disturbed. If you have no parents, just admit that. If you are a ward of the state, I suppose I'll let you off this time. Do not come near my nephew and destroy our possessions again."

Perseus nodded, unsure of what to say.

He left the study.

As soon as the boy was out of the office, Kronos's personal cellphone rang. He answered roughly, tired of his work being interrupted.

"What?"

"Kronos," Ethan Nakamura, a local police officer these days, responded.

Kronos grinned at the sound of his ally. Ethan was a very good source for the events around town and inside information on local businesses, as well as being an inside man, in case Kronos ever got in trouble with the law.

"Yes, how are you Nakamura?"

"Bad, Kronos. Real bad. The station got a number of calls about a noise disturbance by the Dare beach house residence hours ago. They sent my squad car to check things out. We had to call down half the station after what we found. Kronos, it's a bloodbath."

Kronos's eyes widened. Trouble? In their small seaside town?

"What did you find?"

"We've got about four kids missing, eleven kids seriously injured with lacerations all over, three kids injured from pieces of the house that collapsed on top of them, and a bunch of scared witnesses that didn't really _witness_ beach is red all over, man. Body parts everywhere."

"…What happened?"

"Well, the sergeant told all the officers to keep it under wraps, but I'll tell you anyways. Kids were having a beach party like they do every other night. We don't know what happened after that. Kids don't know either. Said it happened when the lights went out, and a bunch of them ran away from the scene once the screams started up. When the lights came back on, holy _hell_ man. It's not pretty. Detectives are saying it looks like a wild animal tore through the party. I don't think one wild animal could do all of this. Is your nephew home with you?"

"Yes," Kronos sighed gratefully.

"Good. Just wanted to make sure he was okay, I know he's your successor...and he's your family."

"Thank you, Nakamura. I won't forget this."

"Good. Cause' I have some other news for you."

Kronos perked up at this.

"As we were searching the premises, I found one kid in the hallway of the house. Place looked like a horror movie. Anyways, I found the kid, a guy. He was bleeding out, like something tore into his-"

"Ethan," Kronos began, a little disgusted.

"Sorry, too much info. Anyways, the kid said he heard something climb over him after it cut him down. He thought it was saying 'sea prince', 'sea prince'. Something else like, 'the merfolk will pay'."

Kronos scoffed. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Man, remember those stories my grandfather told me? The ones about the mermaids?"

"Your grandfather tells you lots of stories, Nakamura. Half the time I think he's pulling them out of his ass."

"Well yeah, grandad's a nut, but not this time around. Remember what he said? The royal family under the sea and their subjects? Sea king, sea queen, sea princesses, yada yada? When that kid told me what he heard tonight, I just remembered the stories and I thought…I think something came here looking for one."

"A mermaid." Kronos had to stifle laughter, surprised at his friend. "You honestly believe that? You are supposed to be a seasoned officer of the law, not some encourager of fairy tales, Nakamura."

"Laugh all you want, Kronos, but I think one's here in town. I think that's why something else came through these teens' beach party, following after it. Cut down a bunch of kids to get to it. Probably wanted it for it's flesh."

Kronos did laugh this time. Nakamura sounded like a crazy conspiracist. All he needed now was a tin foil hat.

"Oh? And did you report this information back to your sergeant or your fellow officers?" He joked, knowing Nakamura might get fired on the spot for reporting such nonsense.

"No way, Kronos! Besides, the kid that told me bled out and died as they were loading him up into the ambulance. No one else heard his testimony but me. If what he said was true, then this information is way too valuable to tell anyone else."

"Sure," Kronos scoffed, still skeptical of his friend's sanity, "and again, you're telling me all this because…?"

"Because I know you'll want in on this. A mermaid is a powerful thing. It's flesh even moreso."

"It's flesh…?"

"The flesh of a mermaid is immeasurably valuable. Legend says that if a man eats the flesh of a mermaid, he will gain immortality. That's what my grandfather told me, and what his grandfather told him."

Kronos ran his fingers over his beard, curious now. Immortality, huh?

"You really believe this?"

"I wouldn't have wasted your time and risked my job to call you, if I didn't. I don't know why, but I'm sure of this one Kronos. I think there's a mermaid in town. I think it probably looks like a kid since it was at a party full of other kids, blending in. I think it was at the party because whatever tromped through this place and killed all these kids was after it. I think it's still alive. Somewhere in town. And I think that whoever finds it and captures it, has a chance at living forever."

Kronos couldn't help but admit the conviction in his friend's voice was very convincing. Nakamura sounded like he truly believed this immortality legend. And knowing the man himself, Kronos was well aware the Nakamura wasn't the type to entertain anything except facts. Hm.

Mermaid flesh.

Immortality.

Kronos was extremely tempted at the prospect of immortality. All the time in the world to gain all the power he could ever dream of?

He was growing old. But if he didn't have to…if he didn't have to die like all men did one day…

It didn't matter who you were, or how much money or power you possessed, death would always be waiting in the end for you.

If there was anything in the world that scared a man like Kronos, it was death.

"Nakamura, are you _sure_? Are you absolutely certain?"

"More sure than anything I've ever been of in my life. I would bet my badge on it."

Kronos looked towards the door to his study before rising up from his seat. "I suppose you'll be taking that bet pretty soon…"

_"He is called Poseidon!"_

_"He rules the seven seas!"_

"…because I think I've already found your mermaid."

* * *

Perseus hadn't planned on getting lost within the large house.

He slowed his pace and tried to retrace his steps, using pictures and vases as checkpoints. He only ended up winding further and further from the room he had been in with his friends.

Pushing through a door, he ended up in a library room of sorts, with several shelves along the walls. Sighing, he looked around for another exit, hopefully one that would lead him back to his friends. With no other door in sight besides the one he came through, Perseus decided to spare a glance at the books along the shelves.

He gingerly grabbed one, flipping it open. Words, words, words.

Back at his palace, the libraries had books that weren't made of paper, but of stone. The royal archivists used sharp, hard metals to carve letters into the rock. Many of them had pictures. Did the humans have pictures as well…?

Grabbing more and more books off the shelves, Perseus searched them furiously until he landed upon a visual. It was the starry sky, with meteors and comets and lights spinning brightly in the void. Perseus stared in awe.

"Young man."

The sudden voice and the hand landing on his shoulder shocked Perseus so much that the book in his hands jumbled and fell out. His legs trembled, suddenly struggling to keep him upright. If only he could sense things in the surface world as he could have back underwater! No one could have ever sneaked up on him like this before.

He whipped around, looking into the face of Luke's uncle.

Kronos grinned, a strange looking thing.

"You like that book?" he gestured to the it fallen on the floor.

Perseus nodded vigorously. "Never have I seen the sky in such detail!"

Kronos knelt down to pick up the book, staring at Perseus's legs on the way down. They were bandaged, and a little cut up, but seemingly fine.

Perseus could feel the eyes on him and gulped, unsure of the man's intention.

"Do they hurt much? Your legs?"

Percy frowned in confusion. "How did you know they ached?"

"You're not used to them, are you?"

Perseus paled, remembering how he had foolishly admitted who his father was. Kronos might know about him. Rachel suspected as did Luke, but Kronos must have known for sure, now!

Perseus would lie in hopes to undo his actions. He didn't want to disappoint Grover or Annabeth.

"I don't know what you mean. What does it matter to you whether they pain me or not?"

Kronos leaned in, and Perseus sighed in exasperation. The Castellans seemed fond of invading personal space to establish dominance.

"It matters to me if there's a mermaid in my home."

Percy froze, tongue-tied for a moment. "You're crazy."

"Am I?" Kronos murmured. "The words came from your own mouth. Your father is Poseidon. He rules the seven seas."

"Poseidon is just his name," Percy struggled to say, backing out of the bookshelves into the open area of the library, "the seven seas uh…that is the name of his company!"

"Really." Kronos murmured, unconvinced and following the boy closely.

Quicker than Perseus could realize, something sharp and glinting was in Kronos's hand. Kronos reached for his arm and pulled him forward. Perseus jerked back, strong enough to overpower the older man. For a moment, it seemed as if he would be able to flip the man off of him.

"Be still!" Kronos called out, praying that Nakamura had been right.

The older man stamped down on the boy's foot with all the force he could muster from his suede shoes.

Perseus hollered in pain, keeling over and grabbing at his foot. His legs were already painful on their own but now with the throbbing caused by Kronos's heel, he couldn't help the wetness in his eyes or the whines that escaped him. His lower body felt like fire once more, almost as if his tail had just torn on him again.

Kronos leaned over him, yanking Perseus's arm back into his grip. He dipped his pocket knife into the boy's skin. It took far more force than normal to cut through the top layer of skin, but once the knife broke through the rest of the plunge was as smooth as butter.

"Strong skin, eh?" Kronos called over Perseus's whimpers."Strong enough to protect the valuable stuff beneath it? Strong enough to rip doors off of cars and overpower men twice your size, three times your age?"

Kronos nodded at Perseus's legs. "But _those_ are so weak. Almost as if you've never used them before."

Perseus struggled through the pain to hiss at the man above him. He was seething in rage that this… _human_ …would assault him like this! How dare he?!

"Go ahead and be angry. This must be very confusing. Well, I'll have you know that if I'm wrong about what I think you are I will recompensate you heavily. If I'm right…well, then you're not human. And you're mine."

Kronos removed the small knife he had stabbed into Perseus's arm and lowered his mouth to the curtains of red dripping from the wound.

The moment the boy's blood touched his lips, Kronos's body was filled with euphoria.

His limbs strengthened as synapses fired off furiously in his brain, adrenaline coursing through him. He felt light headed from the rush of energy that came from tasting that small bit of blood. It didn't even taste like blood. It tasted like victory, like pure life in liquid form. Kronos couldn't help but bite further into the boy's arm, nursing the wound and tasting more of that delicious flavor!

Percy struggled, feeling weaker and weaker as the older man leeched off of his blood, his energy.

"What are you doing?!" A voice cried out.

Kronos reluctantly pulled off of Perseus's arm with a wet _pop_ to turn around. His nephew's friend, Annabeth stood in the doorway. Within moments, the other teenagers stood in the doorway, staring at Kronos in shock.

Kronos stood shakily, his mind still feeling light headed from the taste of that red elixir. He tried to straighten his clothes, looking at the boy on the floor. "I was helping him up," Kronos responded a bit gruffly.

Annabeth and Grover raced over, blocking the older man from their friend and lifting Perseus to his feet.

"Bro, your arm…" Grover said while observing the wound with now, visible teeth marks around it.

Kronos tried to intercept any assumptions. "He injured himself when he fell."

Grover gave Kronos a sick, knowing look before throwing Perseus over his back, piggybacking the boy out of the room.

Annabeth's turned on him, her eyes bright and angry.

"What were you doing to him?"

Kronos cleared his throat, clasping his hands behind his back, the knife out of sight. "I told you. He fell and I was helping him up."

Annabeth lowered her voice so that only Kronos could hear her. "I'll report you to the police, you know that right?"

He matched her volume with a fierce look. "You do that, and I'll report your friend to every news station in the country. He isn't human, and I'm well aware. The government will send agents for him, marine biologists, animal testers, everyone. Know that, little girl."

Annabeth paled in the face of the adult. "Go ahead and try to expose us. No one will believe you, you'll only ruin your own credibility. They'll all think you're crazy! Don't you dare come near him again. Or I'll deal with you _myself_."

She stormed out.

Luke and Rachel were left to stare at the fallen books and the disheveled man. Rachel sighed.

"The next time you lie about cannibalizing a kid in your home, you might want to wipe the evidence off your mouth. Good luck institutionalizing your uncle, Luke."

She hurried after the others.

Luke watched at his uncle with a cautious expression as the older man tried to lick at the corners of his mouth, desperate for more of a taste of the mermaid blood.

"You wouldn't understand, even if I told you Luke," he supplied, sucking the red off of a finger. "You have no idea what's happened tonight, what I've learned. What's possible now!"

Luke shook his head slowly. "No, I really don't."

Was his uncle crazy?

"Keep an eye on that boy, Luke. Make sure he doesn't leave town. Find out where he lives. If he seems like he's about to leave town, let me know immediately."

Luke looked around for an escape. His uncle was definitely crazy. "Uncle, no. I know you're mad about the car but this is a bit much. Maybe we should take you to a doctor, you can't-"

"This ** _isn't_** about the car, Luke! Do as I say!" Kronos demanded, drunk on power and merfolk blood. "Do as I say and I will show you what I mean, soon enough! I promise you that I am not crazed, but completely of right mind. You do this task for me and I will never ask anything else of you again."

Luke paused at the offer. "I wouldn't have to take over the family company?"

It was a big responsibility that Luke wanted no part of. As crazy as uncle looked right now, if Luke could take advantage of Kronos's moment of madness to swindle his way out of the life of responsibility that he never wanted, that was good enough for him.

"No, you wouldn't." Kronos answered.

It was true after all. With immortality, Kronos would never need an heir to take over for him. He would never die.

Luke nodded, suddenly very tired and nauseous. "Alright, I'll watch him…but uncle? Try to uh... I know you said you were alright but you might want to go see a doctor tomorrow. You can't just go around biting people, y'know? It's weird. It's assault."

With that, Luke was all too quick to leave his uncle and the madness behind.

Tonight had been a hell of a night, thanks to the new kid.


	5. The Dream

"Is it common for humans to bite one another? If it is a land walker custom, I do not like it."

Annabeth bit back the sigh pressing on her lips and tightened her hold on Perseus's fidgeting arm, rubbing on more disinfectant alcohol. The teeth marks indenting his skin around the knife's prick were red, raised, and angry-looking.

"No," she said, her voice a little harder than expected. "I don't know why an adult would bite a kid like that…Luke needs to get his uncle some help-"

"Forget about that," Grover interrupted, " _We_ need to get some help. Percy said that Kronos knew his dad was Poseidon! And some monster just tried to eat us at the beach! It was looking for Percy, right? More might show up. We're screwed."

Annabeth allowed the sigh this time.

"We're not screwed, Grover. We just have to think things through a little."

So much for keeping things under wraps.

How many people had found out about Perseus being a merman? And who was sending monsters out to kill him? It was only his first day on land! Annabeth never would have guessed harboring a fugitive merman could cause so much trouble so quickly.

Rachel Dare and _the_ _worst_ possible person, Kronos Castellan, knew about Perseus's supernatural origins. Luke remained clueless as usual but his ignorance didn't provide Annabeth much comfort about the situation.

She wasn't sure how to feel about him anymore. Would Luke be a liability? What about Rachel, Grover, and Perseus himself? Could she trust them?

Well...

...If there were any kids she would choose to have be on her team, it was those guys.

Luke had saved them all earlier. As angry as she had been with him the past few weeks she couldn't deny that when the challenge arose, Luke had answered the call. He had thought on his feet and braved the monster from the beach, with the help of Rachel's car. Maybe him knowing the secret wouldn't be the end of the world. Maybe he would actually be of some help?

Perseus was proving himself, too. As loose-lipped as he was, Perseus refused to be a damsel in distress. He had thrown himself in front of the beast, close enough for the claws to tear him to shreds. Besides. Annabeth was sure that after this biting incident, Perseus was not going to yap the secret to anyone else. He seemed to think the next person he told was going to bite him again.

Annabeth thought of the others. Rachel had courageously led her out of the dark beach house and Grover had helped use the banner to knock the creature down.

She felt a surge of reassurance.

Still. Things would be better if fewer people knew. Even though Grover and Rachel were aware of Perseus being a mermaid, that didn't mean Annabeth was going to run and explain things to Luke...or anyone else the whole story for that matter. Grover was the only one in the know, and he had proved silent on the secret this far.

Besides. She had other things to worry about besides how many people knew.

Like, who was the 'magic' employer that had sent that thing after Perseus? _A master of disguises? Wielder of magic?_ A witch? Would they send other beasts?

"Percy do you know any witches?" Annabeth questioned wonderingly.

Percy nodded. "There are many."

The blonde pretended not to see the shiver that ran through Grover or feel the one threatening to crawl down her own spine. "Many? Many where?"

Percy stared at her, looking as if he could not believe she didn't already know. "In the deep, of course. Some reside above but most like it below."

"The sea level, you mean?"

"Yes. Where the light touches and where the light cannot reach."

Annabeth drew closer.

He knew about a whole other world that she didn't. She could feel the burn to know deep in her gut, curiosity stifling the fear in her.

"Tell me about them."

Percy thought carefully for a few moments before speaking slowly. "These things that I tell you are not to be shared to other land walkers. The peoples of the world should not trade secrets so freely."

Annabeth nodded alongside Grover. "We understand, dude," Grover insisted, "we won't tell anyone!"

Percy frowned at them both, though his eyes seemed to be looking past them. "I have already told you both too much at this point. It is not normal but…this is not a normal situation. And I trust you."

The two humans gave him shy smiles that bolstered a bit of confidence inside Percy. He continued on.

"Witches are among the land walkers and the seafolk as well as other peoples of the world. For seafolk, there are good and bad witches. Few are both. Bad witches harm other seafolk and steal their souls, turning them into foam. It's wicked."

"I thought mermaids didn't have souls?" Grover questioned.

Perseus's brows drew together. "Every living thing has a soul."

"Hans Andersen didn't think so. The guy who came up with 'The Little Mermaid'? He said when mermaids died, they all turned into foam."

Perseus scoffed. "Oh! Him. He _would_ think that."

"You know him?"

Percy laughed. "Many know him. He traveled far and met several of the peoples. Merfolk, fae, weres and others. He told humans stories of them, though his stories are not entirely…accurate. He is just one of the many land walkers that have met and spoken with other beings."

Grover looked intrigued before rattling off too many questions for Percy to keep up with. "So you guys do have souls? Do humans have them too? What happens when you die? Is there some kind of mermaid heaven-?"

The merboy raised a hand to halt Grover's chatter. "...We don't know any more about those things than you land walkers do. Merfolk like to think that our bodies become one with the ocean again, and that our scales become shards of sunlight that break through the waters. Some think we come back as other sea creatures. Some think that there is nothing after."

"What do you think?"

Percy's eyes twinkled. "I know that the land is wide and the water is deep. I know that souls exist and that they are too powerful to disappear. Something happens to them. I just don't know what."

Annabeth made a mental note to revisit the curious topic before prodding Perseus. They needed to focus. "Tell us more about witches."

"Ah! Well, sea witches have more power over the ocean than the average merperson but this is because they must give something up, usually something extremely important, in exchange for the power. The ocean is both chaotic and balanced. To be a good sea witch, one must achieve both states of being at the same time. Few can. Most witches fall under 'balanced' or 'chaotic'. In our kingdom, if a seawitch became too chaotic, we banished them to the deep."

Annabeth shivered. "The deep? Why?"

Perseus shrugged. "The creatures below are stronger. Darker. They can handle the antics of a chaotic sea witch better than the merfolk above. We are a balanced people. And to be banished is to be shamed."

"Were there any witches in your kingdom?"

"A few. Morgana. Atargatis. Namaka."

Annabeth nodded. "And were they bad? Which ones were banished?"

Percy shrugged. "Your definition of bad? Or ours? Some were bad. Most were a mix of both, I suppose. Namaka and Atargatis were banished."

"Did either of them have a reason to hurt you?"

Percy thought for a while. "I'm not sure. I never spoke to them."

Annabeth nodded. At least she had it narrowed down now. Namaka and Atargatis. She looked to Perseus.

"Percy, I need you to help me out here. C'mon, think hard. Did either of those two witches stay in the kingdom before? In your palace?"

Perseus frowned. "Why would you think that? The royals would never employ such conniving, heinous-"

She ran her hands through her hair in frustration. This kid's pride would be the end of her!

"Percy, no, stop. I know your family is respectable and honorable and all that, but that's not what I'm asking. I'm asking if either of the witches were ever near you. Did Namaka or Atargatis work in the palace before? Because that monster from earlier was speaking English and only-"

Perseus's eyes lit up. "-Oh! Only a royal would be so well versed in the languages of the land walkers. You're right. Let me think...both were servants there. Yes. We had many servants doing many things but I remember the staff whispering about the two when they were both found guilty and banished. Not at the same time, of course, but the both of them."

Annabeth almost jumped with glee.

It was _definitely_ one of those two. Perseus's enemy could only be someone strong enough to curse his conch, someone with access to deep sea monsters and someone with a reason. She was almost glad that Perseus's pursuer sent that dumb monster after them. It only helped shed light on who was behind all of this.

"Were either of them known as masters of concealment, or disguise? The Dark One had said that at the party. It said that's the kind of witch who sent it after you."

Percy shrugged. "Pfft. Witches are a boastful bunch, especially when there is nothing to boast about. Most all of them are talented with illusion magic. And _as if_ one creature from the deep would be enough to best me in battle! I doubt they will send another because getting a creature of the deep to listen to you is hard enough, witch or not. Keeping it alive on land is even harder. There are other ways they will try to hurt me, I'm sure."

Annabeth frowned at his nonchalance. "Aren't you scared that someone out there is after you?"

"Not at all. Let them try. I'm a prince! Princes don't get scared."

She rolled her eyes.

Now...

How many kids had seen the creature, if any?

What were the police going to find at the Dare beach house? Was the investigation going to lead back to Perseus? They had better lay low, just in case.

And why had Luke's uncle cannibalized Perseus so viciously if he knew Perseus wasn't human? Wasn't he afraid of catching some supernatural disease or getting the targeting force of Perseus's inhuman strength? And why biting? If they were fighting each other…she hated to even suggest it because Percy was her friend, but logically speaking, wouldn't the knife he had been holding been far more effective against Perseus in a fight rather than human teeth?

Annabeth just couldn't put those pieces of the puzzle together. She would have to look up a few things online, especially the names of those witches. If Poseidon was common knowledge of both humans and mermaids, who knows what else was?

Grover questioned Percy as Annabeth sank away into her thoughts.

"Man, this is just…surreal. You know so many things that we don't. That all this stuff exists, it's just…cool! I mean, you having all these creepy things after you _isn't_ cool, but everything else is."

Perseus stared. "Land walkers also know many things that sea folk do not. I will tell my friends of them when I return home."

Grover nodded, wondering about what kind of creatures Perseus was friends with.. "You can do so much stuff Perce'. Breathe underwater, telepathy, strength, the list goes on."

"I 'could' do those things. Not anymore. Nothing but the strength remains, and I'm not even sure why that is."

Grover tilted his head in question. "Why didn't you fight Kronos off then? I mean, it looked like you were just letting the old guy munch on your arm."

Green eyes evaded brown as Perseus folded his arms before wincing and lowering them. "It's not that simple! He- he stepped on my fins...I mean my flippers- I mean-"

"-feet?" Grover supplied.

"Yes, those! They hurt very much. Too much to focus and...aaaaaaghh!"

He stood up abruptly on the bed, suddenly enraged.

Grover and Annabeth stared, bewildered. "I am a prince of the oceans! I cannot believe I was- maimed by a lowly land walker! An elderly one at that! This is unacceptable. My father would shed his scales if he ever heard. I should have destroyed that man. I will smite him if I ever lay gaze on him again! Neither of you will tell a soul! Swear it on the seven seas! I command you!"

Grover looked to Annabeth as she too stood up on the bed, leveling a hot gaze with Percy's. "...Uh?"

"Perseus." Her words came out low. "Relax. We're here to help you. But remember: you're not a prince now. Not up here. On land, you're just like the rest of us. So if you want to get back home you're going to have to work with us. You don't get to command us because we're not your servants, we're your friends. And we're not just 'lowly land walkers'. We're human."

Percy stared her down, chest rising fast.

"Breathe," Annabeth ordered, "and stop letting your pride get in the way of us helping you! Maybe if you hadn't been bragging so much, Kronos wouldn't have found out your secret."

Percy looked affronted. His lineage was no secret. Merman or human, royal blood still ran through his veins and would continue to do so until the day he died. Why shouldn't he be prideful of something so glorious? "For someone who says I shouldn't command others, you give a lot of commands yourself!"

Annabeth raised a sharp finger. "It's for your own good!" She didn't care if she was bursting the sea prince's bubble. His outbursts had unnerved her for too long and she needed to weed out his defiance. She needed Percy to _listen_ and stay low if they were going to keep him a secret and get him home. Everything was already unraveling and it hadn't even been 24 hours yet. "Think before you speak next time, Percy."

"…Or what?" he whispered hotly. She couldn't tell if the breathy words were laced with anger, disbelief, or something a little more raunchy. All she knew was that it gave her goosebumps and Percy's eyes seemed to knife her, the green growing more intense.

"Or I'll…I'll…"

The door banged as Miss Jackson strode inside the guest room. Perseus quickly sat back down and hid his injured arm behind his back before smiling at the older woman. Annabeth wiped away sweat that she hadn't felt rolling down her temple.

"Oh good, you're home," Miss Jackson breathed in relief. "There's an accident all over the news about a party near the beach. I was worried about you three!"

Percy grinned. "No need to worry Miss Jackson, we're fine."

She smiled warmly. "I'm glad. If you need anything, just yell. And Annabeth, no jumping on the beds, please. Honestly, you know better than that." Sally scolded. Annabeth felt her ears heat up as she sat down and watched the older woman leave the room.

Percy seemed to perk up at Sally's words, oblivious to the residual tension his human friends were still feeling from the recent confrontation. "'Yell' if I need anything? I don't think I've yelled my entire time stuck on land, friends!"

He inhaled a noisy lungful of air.

"No," Annabeth insisted, clapping her hands over his mouth. Perseus grinned beneath her fingers before peeking his tongue out, licking her palms. Annabeth of Chase was an annoyingly demanding land walker but he kind of liked that about her, he mused.

"You taste salty like the ocean," he noted, tongue poking at her skin.

Her eyebrows jumped suddenly.

"Oh my…Grover, that's it!" Annabeth yelled.

Grover quickly removed the look of disgust on his face from Perseus's saliva all over her fingers to focusing on her. "Uh- yeah, huh?"

"Taste...he was tasting...'-To eat'! Kronos wasn't fighting Perseus…he was trying to eat him!"

Grover shook his head. "No offense, Annabeth…but that's honestly the dumbest thing I've _ever_ heard you say. He was trying to eat a full grown teenager? I mean yeah, he bit pretty deep, but..."

"Well…I don't think he was actually trying to _eat_ Perseus but something along those lines…I don't know why he was doing it there in his library, and while Perseus was clearly conscious. Maybe he was trying to agitate him? Taste-test him? Maybe it's like, a way to challenge other mermaids? I don't know. All I know is that this theory fits better than anything else."

Grover shook his head. "Doesn't fit to me. I think he just forgot his old-person meds and decided to get a little chompy on Percy."

Annabeth wiped her wet hand on Perseus's shirt before turning towards the desktop computer in the room. Percy moved to taste Grover's hand, who yelped and slapped him off.

Annabeth booted up the PC and began to type. She was certain she was onto something. Maybe Kronos had known something they hadn't? Was there a benefit to biting mermaids?

A sudden warmth spread across her back before she felt Perseus settle himself on top of her, peering over her shoulder. There was not a nook or cranny of space between the two and the blonde could feel herself stop typing as Perseus breathed into her ear.

"Perce'", Grover called over, "what are you doing?"

"Watching what Annabeth is doing."

"Why are you _on_ her, though?"

Annabeth felt Perseus shrug and jostle the both of them, as close as he was. She wondered if mermaids shrugged often or if Perseus was just copying what he had seen Grover do.

"She is comfortable," he seemed to conclude before twisting and burying his face deep into her neck, inhaling.

"I thought you were mad at me?" Annabeth asked, making a show of twisting away while ignoring the contented thrumming on her skin.

"Mm…I was but now I don't care. Princes don't hold petty grudges."

Annabeth almost laughed. Percy may have sucked at keeping secrets but at least he sucked at arguing, too.

Grover leaned onto Perseus, trying to get a grip on the squirmy kid.

"Boundaries man, you need to learn them!"

She inhaled sharply at the extra weight of the two boys before huffing in exasperation. "Perseus, Grover, please. I'm looking for something on the Internet right now."

"What's the 'Internet'?"

"…Why don't you go cuddle with Grover instead?"

Eyes brightening, Perseus untangled himself from her and hobbled over to Grover who scrambled back.

Annabeth ignored the sounds of struggle behind her and scoured webpage after webpage, looking for a clue.

_'Mermaids this, mermaid that, blah blah blah, not relevant...'_

She found a few ancient Grecian stories on men who ate mermaids and consequently, were cursed. Other stories from tropical regions said that humans became mermaids if they tasted the flesh. In some East Asian myths, it was thought that eating the flesh of a mermaid gave immortality. They spoke of the 'ningyo' in Japan, a fish-human that brought omen and disaster wherever it appeared.

Other places thought that eating mermaid scales gave humans the ability to breathe underwater or become stronger than ten men. A few sources claimed that the flesh of a mermaid caused nothing to happen, only that it was the best tasting meat you'd ever find in an ocean.

Annabeth felt a little guilty over her slight curiosity at the taste of Perseus. She quickly changed her mind. Not that she would ever seriously consider eating him, but in his mer-form he was far too beautiful, too strange to eat.

Did Kronos want to become a merman? Or immortal? Or did he simply want to eat one?

She wasn't sure. But she was willing to bet a man like Kronos leaned more towards immortality more than he did unique cuisine.

But what if it wasn't any of those things? Maybe he really was just crazy. But that seemed too easy.

Damn. Now she had one more thing to worry about!

 _Whatever_ the old man wanted to do, it involved hurting Percy. How far was Kronos willing to go to get what he wanted? She couldn't allow Percy to get hurt during his stay on land. Not only because she cared for his wellbeing, but also because he needed to be returned to Poseidon in one piece.

Annabeth doubted that Kronos would blow Perseus's cover. The tabloids would have a field day if he started ranting about mermaids instead of stocks and bonds.

She was going to make sure Perseus stayed far, far away from Kronos.

It was a good thing Percy's tail was gone. At least they could still pretend he was human no matter what anyone else said.

"Ah!"

She turned away from the computer to see Perseus gripping onto Grover's face and pressing their foreheads together.

Grover fidgeted. "Percy, this is weird and your ocean breath is like, killing my nasal senses right now-"

"I need to be close."

"What?"

"I can't mindspeak like before. Perhaps if I decrease the distance between us our thoughts will be able to touch?"

"Uh, no. I don't think it works like that."

Percy sighed and released Grover before slumping back onto the bed before curling onto his side. The fidgeting slowly wore away.

Annabeth and Grover sat beside the him.

"It is too quiet," he confided. "I do not like it."

Annabeth nodded. So _that_ was the problem. "Do you want to listen to music?"

Percy shook his head slowly, before fidgeting once more. "The music at Rachel's party was amazing but...it's not that. I do not like this silence. I do not like how…how open…I need something to touch my skin besides air but I cannot feel anything." He ran his hands up and down his body before burying his head in a pillow.

He did not want his land walker friends to see him in a distressed mood but it was becoming too much.

He wasn't used to feeling so little resistance in every motion with the absence of water, or using his nose to smell, or hearing things so sharply, or walking upright for so long. His abdomen felt strange without the muscles being used to whip his mertail up and down. His mind buzzed in the silence that filled it without the thoughts of nearby creatures to fill it.

He felt very raw and open, like a fresh wound. He felt blinded.

He felt sad.

Where was his father? His family? Were they looking for him? Were they worried?

Did they even care? After all the trouble he had caused they might not even want him back. They might find a new prince to crown king of the sea. A merboy with more class and wit that wouldn't get turned into a human so easily. A merboy that would not be bested by land walkers or reveal the sacred secrets of the folk so easily. A merboy that did not crave the embrace of a human woman with no relation to him, the touch of something, anything, to anchor him. A merboy who wasn't so heavily attached to two land walker children.

He knew it was silly. Of course they wouldn't replace him, he was of royal blood. But that didn't erase the feelings of regret that bubbled up as he thought about all the things he had done and said before disappearing. He had hurt so many, trampled the feelings of others. He had spat venom at his father before disappearing. Would he ever get to apologize?

Percy hardly realized the tears were falling until he felt the pillow beneath him moisten. He burrowed further into it to hide his face.

Princes didn't cry. Certainly not in front of humans.

He turned the pillow over and rubbed an arm over his face to clean up.

The boy land walker…no, his _friend_ … stood and went over to the machine they called 'a computer'. Within moments, Perseus began to hear the sounds of the ocean.

He looked up, curiosity winning over.

It sounded like home!

Grover looked back at him smiling. "It's a soundtrack," he explained, "you can play music or other sounds from this thing," he patted the computer. "This soundtrack I picked out has sounds collected from underwater. I was going to pick a beach one, but I figure you spent more time in the water than on the sand."

Perseus stared at the computer, mesmerized. "How…?"

"The Internet."

"…I like the Internet."

Grover chuckled and drew close as Annabeth wrapped an arm around Perseus. The prince turned to look at her before turning in pleasant surprise as Grover draped his own arm across Percy's shoulders.

"We could stay for awhile and hold you? So the open air doesn't bother you as much. It's not the same as the ocean, but…"

Perseus nodded. "Please."

Grover made a show of heavy sighing before mumbling something about boundaries and clambering into bed with them.

Percy hummed between them and Annabeth couldn't help but laugh. Grover smiled over at her, resting on a pillow.

"Is this going to be like a frequent thing? Mermaid cuddle time?"

The blonde shrugged but her eyes twinkled knowingly. Perseus didn't answer.

He was already asleep.

* * *

.

Apology meant failure.

But dishonesty mean punishment.

Calypso struggled to calm her mind and get the words out.

_"I'm sorry, Mistress. The creature I sent…it failed."_

It was strange, being afraid. Calypso had thought the exchange would kill her fear.

Dim light conjured itself up, illuminating parts of the stony walls. The light could only spill so far, but it was enough for Calypso to see a sliver of the furious face in the shadows.

_"Of course it failed. You're a failure of a student. Why would your creatures fare any better?"_

Calypso couldn't help but curl her tail around herself, tension stringing it tight. _"I'm sorry,"_ she tried again, voice cool and calm. She didn't know why the Mistress chose her for this important task if she knew Calypso was going to make a mess of things. Calypso knew herself. She was a poor study for dark magic.

 _"You're always sorry,"_ the Mistress said tightly, _"but never good enough. Apologies won't kill the sea prince."_

A clammy hand reached out of the shadows and Calypso let it curl tight around her throat, stilling herself. Resisting the touch would be stupid. There were worse things.

_"Don't you want him to pay? For breaking your heart?"_

Calypso could feel her eyes redden. It surprised her. She hadn't thought she could do that anymore. Tears were hard to catch underwater but she had no doubt the Mistress would try it and use them for her experiments. Mermaid tears were valuable, witch tears even moreso. And that was all she was now.

 _"Don't you?"_ her master repeated.

Calypso thought on it absently. There was a time she might have cared about Perseus. She hadn't wanted to send the creature after him at first. The news of his survival and her failure should have brought her joy. She had loved the boy once, after all. Strangely, she couldn't bring herself to feel anything.

It was the trade. The Mistress was slowly taking what Calypso had promised her.

 _"I…I don't care anymore. It's not worth it,_ " Calypso projected honestly.

The hand tightened. _"Whether or not you wish to stay the path you took when you sought me out, you will walk it. You swore. Signed the contract. Made the trade. Even now, I take what you promised me. I know you feel the change."_

Calypso bit back a groan as the Mistress's voice crawled through her mind. She was so tired of hearing the hideous sound! She missed the light, the above. Without the entirety of the heart that had blinded her before, she could see much clearer now. Perseus was not worth all of this, never was.

_"Obey me, guppy. You will finish what you started. Since you are too incompetent to direct one of my creatures to kill a simple land walker, you will be punished."_

The smaller mermaid closed her eyes, willing away the fear and failing like she always did. As awful as it made her feel Calypso dreaded the day that even her fear would vanish and she would be like stone, feeling nothing. _"What would you have me do?"_

_"They sleep now. I want you to send out your spirit to find him. Once found you will climb into his mind."_

Calypso's tail tightened further in on itself. A strange bout of emotion flared up inside her once more. She would have been relieved if not for being distracted by the heinous request of her superior. _"Mistress, please…! I can't- I am not good at mind weaving or spirit throwing. Please don't make me…! I cannot unweave the mind of another living creature and live with myself. And I cannot throw my spirit for I have trouble returning to my body afterwards. It is unnatural-"_

_" **Silence**! Excuses, that's all you ever offer guppy! I tell you to hex, you hesitate. I tell you to travel to the deep, you tremble. I tell you to kill, you apologize! You take my knowledge, my lessons I have graciously bestowed upon you and you squander it all. You came to me first, remember?"_

Calypso shivered at the truth of it.

_"You will not unweave his mind, you are too weak for such a task. I simply want you to crawl into it and see his ongoings. I want you to send him visions that will cause him pain and frenzy. And if your spirit gets lost on the journey, so be it."_

_"But-"_

_" **That** is your punishment. And if you refuse me I will snatch your soul for my own purposes. I will swallow the offering of your trade so that you can never earn it back from me! Surely you can think of a frightening enough vision to force into his dreams."_

Calypso bit her lip so hard she could taste copper.

Her heart may be half gone but she still had half enough to realize how wrong this was. She was terrified of being unable to find her body after a spirit throwing, but if she denied the Mistress, her spirit would get snatched! It was unthinkable. She would rather become a wandering ghost than whatever the Mistress did to her soul for not obeying orders.

 _"Whatever you desire, Mistress,"_ Calypso whispered tiredly.

The hand released her neck. _"Good. Now go before I decide to eat the rest of your heart."_

Calypso turned as quick as she could and whipped her tail in a frenzy to get away. As she disappeared into the shadows, she thought of Perseus.

The boy who had been so, so sweet to her when no one else had. Back then, she would have done anything to be his.

Now she just wanted him to survive this.

She palmed at the dark spot of veins on her chest. Some things were not worth it. Even if he had been one of the few things made her life worth living. Now she couldn't even live, not properly. Not with half a heart. Only survive long enough to break the contract with the Mistress. _If_ she could even do that.

But Calypso had gotten herself in this mess and she was going to get herself out of it. For now she would do the witch's bidding, become a proper witch herself. Then when the time was right, she would steal back her offering and flee from the depths.

...Until then.

She swam the long trail back to her lonely grotto and went to work, but not before moving the heavy stone to block the entryway.

She set up her crystals and gems before breathing soft enchantments on them to illuminate her shoddy home and settle her wracked nerves. Seeing the Mistress always did that to her. The light helped. Things would be easier if she were above.

Hating herself for the violation she was about to commit, she cleared her mind and stretched out her arms, fingers weaving. The words of the incantation filled her mind, slowing down everything around her.

Leaving her body was the easy part. She left it below safe in the deep and reached out into the void, searching each warm light that passed her but not edging too close. She didn't want another powerful mystic being sensing her intrusions.

Finally, she found the one that smelled of old oceans, lineage, and land walkers. She brushed against the edges, checking to make sure this was the right one.

Fingers clenched, she dove into Perseus's mind.

* * *

It was not the screaming that woke Annabeth up.

What brought her out of her sleep was the strange, heavy feeling that had settled over the room.

Her skin felt sweaty and her stomach tight. Still stuck in the place between wake and sleep, Annabeth vaguely noted the shouts and pondered on the feeling. It felt like something foreign was in the room. Something unseen.

Something wrong.

An arm rained down on her and her thoughts so heavily that all the air left her chest, leaving her gasping. Stunned, she rolled away from the flailing limb only to fall off the edge of the bed and onto the floor. She heaved onto the carpet trying desperately to get her breath back as the shouts continued to puncture the silent room.

The noise continued until Grover fell onto the floor at the foot of the bed, halting his shrieks. He scrambled back in fear until he saw the blonde gasping. He was at her side instantly, patting her back and speaking in a wrecked voice. "Breathe in… _in_ …yeah, that's it- one, two…now let it go. Again-" and he coached her breaths back to regularity until her vision cleared. She could see purple bruises forming on Grover's brow and cheek.

The door opened and both Miss Jackson and Paul came running into the room.

"Don't-!" Annabeth rasped, Percy still silently flailing from his nightmare on the bed. If his blows made contact he could seriously hurt the adults.

Sally ignored the teens on the floor and dodged a hand before cooing and rubbing Percy's forehead. Paul raced over to hold the boy's limbs down as his wife soothed him.

One moment he was pulled tight like a wire and the next, Perseus stilled. His eyes opened slowly, eerily wide and roving. When they landed on everyone surrounding him he forced out a breath. Recognition dawned.

"I'm sorry," he said, reaching for Annabeth's face. She flinched and his hand lowered. "I don't know what..." he trailed off looking at Grover and his bruising.

Sally ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, hon', it's alright. Bad dream?"

Percy opened his mouth to speak but was stopped at a strange nasal sensation. Pressing two fingers to his lips and nose, he found traces of dark red. "Yes. A dream." He knew better. It was an attack.

"I'll go get you all some water. Will you be alright?"

"Yes."

Paul looked shell shocked and released Percy's arms to look at his own reddened palms. The kid had felt like a linebacker to Paul. "Must've been some dream, huh? You were thrashing pretty hard." Paul stared for a moment at the disheveled states of the three kids. "I'll, uh- I'll get the first aid kit."

Percy breathed deeply as the two adults left. He pressed at his eyes before wiping a thumb over Grover's bruises, ignoring the skittishness of the land walker. When nothing happened, he groaned.

"Percy…?" Annabeth questioned, waiting for the boy to fill them in on what the hell happened.

"I just- it's not…why won't it work?" He gestured harshly at Grover. "Everything about me that made me part of the merfolk is gone. That…that _witch_ …took everything. Now they have caused me to hurt you both. I'm so sorry."

Grover gripped Percy's arm, unafraid once more. "Wait, hold up. What witch? What did you just wipe on me?"

Percy looked to him. "The witch from the dream! They tainted it on purpose and doing so, I struck you while sleeping. You both are so much weaker than I. I could have killed you. My actions are unforgivable."

Annabeth stepped forward, still rubbing a hand over her aching chest. Feeling all her ribs intact comforted her. "You dreamed about a witch?"

Percy shook his head. "Didn't dream _of_ a witch. The witch was _in_ the dream."

Annabeth looked confused. "What's the difference?"

Grover paused. "In it like…possession? Like alien babies? Like mentally?"

Perseus nodded at the brunette. "Mentally. Mindspeak. But in a bad way. There were no words traded, only nightmares."

"Who was it?"

Percy paused, looking confused. "I…I don't know. I didn't see their face, pfft." His nosebleed spilled over his lips and he spluttered at the feeling.

Annabeth quickly wiped at Percy's nose with his shirt, trying to clean the mess away. Someone, somewhere had sent Percy a nightmare and she believed it. Ever since Perseus had arrived the supernatural had been at work. Like the ningyo from the stories online, chaos trailed after the boy.

"I was dreaming of home. I was with my family, my subjects. Then the witch came. My tail tore and I drowned in front of all of them, like a land walker. None of them could help me. Then she just showed me horrible visions over and over..." he rubbed a hand over his face.

The atmosphere had felt way off when she had woken up. Whoever had done it was hostile. Dreams couldn't kill and so the act must have been just to mess with Perseus. Annabeth would bet anything it was the person who was behind turning Percy human or sending that creature after him, but she couldn't assume just yet.

"What did you wipe on me before?" Grover asked again. Perseus looked to him.

"A tear. Under normal circumstances it would've healed you. These aren't normal circumstances, though. I'm too human now for such things."

He hated even saying that. He wasn't human. He was a merman!

Perseus stared at the ceiling, determined. Annabeth of Chase believed that this anonymous witch was the one causing him hell in his life. The witch had made him unconsciously hurt Grover of Underwood, ruined Rachel of School's party by sending the Dark One after them, and had even stripped a prince of the _sea_ of his scales! Now he couldn't get a decent night's rest?

He growled in frustration before laying back down trying to close his eyes.

"Maybe you shouldn't go to sleep," Annabeth agreed. "Aren't you afraid she'll come back?" Grover asked.

Perseus glanced at his human friends before grinning.

"She can try."


End file.
